


The Spindle of Necessity

by HonorH



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Dresden Files - All Media Types, The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Greek Myths, M/M, Post-Book 15: Skin Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-07-27 14:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7621723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HonorH/pseuds/HonorH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Dresden thinks he's seen everything. Then a trio of Greek demigods shows up in Chicago, bringing trouble with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Teen Demigods in Chicago

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to get my favorite wizard and my favorite demigods together for an adventure, so I dug up a MacGuffin from Greek Mythology, drafted a villain from HoO, sent three demigods after them, and plopped everything down in the Windy City for Harry to stumble across. We'll see what happens. 
> 
> This story will take place within the continuity of my Nico/Will "Being Us" series (now with 100% more plot!), but you don't need to read that to understand this one. There should be enough exposition to make things clear. One thing up front: In my continuity, Will learns to speak Italian. He and Nico use it as a secret language sometimes. It's a boyfriend thing.
> 
> This story takes place about two years after BoO and sometime shortly after Skin Game. Other characters will be entering the picture as the story goes on.
> 
> BTW, my Head!Lou Ellen is a bit of a cloud-cuckoolander, so if she strikes you as a bit weird, she is. But nice, as long as she doesn't think you'd make a cute piglet.

I always liked to think of myself as an authority on weird shit. You name it, I’d seen it, heard it, met it, killed it, stepped in its doo, or gotten impregnated by it. And God, didn’t I just wish I were kidding.

But even I had to admit the skeletons guarding the doors of an old warehouse in the industrial district were a new one.

There’d been a few strange goings-on – okay, stranger than usual goings-on – in Chicago over the past forty-eight hours. The previous day, I’d killed something that turned out to be an ancient Greek monster. Before it died, it said something about “the half-bloods” being what it was after. I did some asking around, got a general direction, and wound up at the aforementioned warehouse being guarded by some flesh-challenged folks.

Weird shit like that, in my experience, needed checking out. I considered a plan of attack. Even if I could get past the skeletons, the ground floor was probably a bad idea, since whoever or whatever was inside appeared to be expecting trouble. However, there was an exterior stair leading up to another entrance, probably to a catwalk, and it was out of the skeletons’ lines of sight – or, at least, I hoped it was. It seemed like as good a chance as any to reconnoiter, so I veiled myself and carefully made my way to the warehouse.

I added a layer of veiling to dampen sound as I climbed the staircase. No curious skeletons appeared, which I took as a good sign. Dealing with the door’s lock was a matter of a few seconds (the traits of a good detective and a good burglar often overlap), and then I was inside.

Nothing attacked me the second I got through the door, which I took as another good sign. I could hear voices, and when I got to the edge of the catwalk, I saw who was talking.

They were kids. Two boys and a girl, none of them looking like they were out of their teens. The girl, who was rocking some hippie-ish fashions and auburn braids, knelt in the middle of a magic circle, but not any type I’d personally come into contact with. Greek lettering was chalked on the inside edge of the circle, and as I turned up my hearing and Listened, I thought the language she was chanting in must be Greek, too.

Off to one side was a tall, blond, surfer-looking dude. He looked like he might be the oldest of the group, but I still wouldn’t have put him at over eighteen. Curiously, he was carrying a bow and arrows, which is not a usual thing in my experience. Something about him reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t quite place it. Mainly, he brought to mind sunny days and vacations in warm places. I instinctively liked him.

Off to the other side, pacing like a caged lion, was a boy who looked about as opposite to Sunny Jim as he could get. He was shorter and slimmer, and he was dressed in all black. His hair, also black, was tied back into a messy ponytail. And he was carrying a sword.

Goths were common in Chicago. Goths carrying swords were . . . actually a bit more common in Chicago than you’d think.

But the sword Goth Boy was carrying made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It was a Greek-style short sword with a leaf-shaped blade, and it was pure black. It almost looked like it was made of solid darkness.

All three of the kids on the ground floor oozed power. If I wasn’t mistaken, though, Goth Boy was the most powerful of them.

The girl said something in another language that had to be a swear. “I’m not getting anything!” she cried in frustration. “It’s like there’s too much interference. Chicago’s such a mess of ley lines and magical confluences . . . I can’t get a clear read on where it could be.” She had a musical Southern accent.

Sunny Jim crouched down outside the circle. “It’s okay, Lou. You tracked it this far; I know we’ll find it.”

“We don’t have a lot of time.” Goth Boy’s voice was about what I’d have expected: low, intense and a little gravelly. “If we stay here too long . . .” The concerned look he threw Sunny Jim was not what I’d have expected.

Sunny Jim waved his concern away. “We’ve still got about a week before things get bad for me.”

Goth Boy didn’t look mollified. He kept staring into the shadows as if he could see something in them that I couldn’t. And I suspected that that assessment was right on the money.

“This isn’t a good place,” he muttered. “Lots of death. Restless spirits.”

Lou was re-drawing part of her circle. “Probably leftovers from the Chicago Mob. I hear they’re rough customers.”

“Anything from our sentries?” Sunny Jim asked.

Goth Boy shook his head. “They haven’t picked up on anything, but if we’re being hunted by _empousai_ , they know how to work the Mist.” He said the word with a capital letter. “We might not get much of a warning, if any.”

So, Goth Boy was responsible for the skeletons, and he could sense death and restless spirits. Lou was trying to find something with magical means, and from the sounds of it, Sunny Jim was on a tight schedule with some not-good consequences.

Interesting.

Goth Boy suddenly stiffened. He said something in what sounded like Greek to the other two, and then he walked straight into a shadow . . . where he disappeared.

I was in the process of figuring that out when I heard a quiet sound behind me, and something very cold rested on my right shoulder.

“Sudden moves would be bad for your health,” said Goth Boy’s voice. “Will! Lou Ellen! I found our spy!”

It’s not that I could cast the greatest veils, but I’d gotten pretty competent with them thanks to teaching Molly. This kid managed to see straight through it and then teleport right behind me. The cold thing I felt was his sword, which was radiating a kind of hungry power. My coat had spells on it that could stop bullets and monster claws, but I wasn’t willing to bet my life that it could stop that sword.

In other words, he had me, and he had me good. I lifted my hands in surrender, letting go of my staff, and dropped the veil.

“Hi,” I said. As an opening gambit, I hoped it was pretty safe.

Goth Boy didn’t seem charmed. “Stand up and turn around, and don’t try anything.” 

The sword moved off my shoulder, and I carefully pushed myself to my feet and turned around, keeping my hands in view at all times.

I got a good look at Goth Boy for the first time. He wasn’t very tall, maybe five-seven, five-eight tops, and slim, but the way he held himself and that black sword said this was far from his first rodeo. He was a good-looking kid, too, almost pretty, but in a cold way, like a stone statue. And for some reason, he reminded me strongly of Thomas.

“I’ve got an arrow on him,” Sunny Jim yelled up from the floor. I wasn’t sure I liked him so much anymore.

“How’d he get in without us noticing?” Lou Ellen asked.

Goth Boy glanced at my wizard’s staff. “He’s very tall, white, dark hair . . .” He looked me up and down, and I had a feeling it wasn’t just with his eyes. “Mortal, but feels . . . different, somehow. Has some kind of magical staff.” His gaze became even more penetrating. “He’s been in the Underworld. Maybe spent some time on the shady side of dead. Who are you? Why are you here?” The last two questions were directed to me.

I figured the best defense was a good offense. “I could ask you the same,” I said. “Chicago happens to be my town. You people have been causing ripples, and it’s messing with my schedule.”

Goth Boy gave me an incredulous look. “What, are you Chicago’s resident wizard or something?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

It didn’t look like Goth Boy knew what to do with me any more than I knew what to do with him. Fortunately, before things could get too tense, we were interrupted by monsters.

Goth Boy got the message a few seconds early. His eyes widened, and he shouted, _“Empousai!”_ before disappearing into a shadow. Literally.

“Neat trick,” I muttered. And then things started going bang downstairs.

One of the warehouse doors ripped free of the entrance, and monsters like the one I’d killed the other day came flooding in. And they were, let me tell you, bizarre. They looked like women from the waist up, only with flaming hair, red eyes and vampire fangs. From the waist down, things got stranger. Each had one donkey’s leg and one mechanical bronze leg.

Sunny Jim – Will, I assumed – started shooting arrows into them, and Goth Boy attacked with his black sword. The kid was good. I’ve seen some great swordsmen in my time, and he was up there, going through the monsters like butter. Lou Ellen, the girl, looked like she was gearing up to cast a spell or two.

So, on one side, three mysterious, powerful kids with paranormal abilities. On the other side, weird-ass monsters. The fact that Goth Boy hadn’t summarily executed me when he caught me spying on them made me think the kids were all right.

There was a boom from my side of the warehouse, and I had a feeling it didn’t herald anything good. I cast my lot in with the kids and leaped over the railing.

I hit the ground just as the door on the close side of the warehouse came free. I shouted, _“Forzare!”_ and sent a wave of pure force at it, blasting it back into the monster women. It wouldn’t slow them down for long, but it gave me a chance to get my bearings.

“What the hell are these things?” I yelled above the chaos.

_“Empousai!”_ yelled Will. “Ancient Greek vampires! Don’t listen to them!”

“Got that covered,” called Lou Ellen. She threw something in the air, shouted a word, and the sound of static filled the warehouse. “That should counteract charmspeak. Don’t look ‘em in the eye, either!”

Useful information. Between Will’s arrows and Goth Boy’s sword, and something Lou Ellen had done to make the _empousai_ wander around like they were confused, one side of the warehouse looked secure.

On the other side, my little stopgap measure was giving way to a horde of pissed-off demon women. They could move fast, but their mismatched legs gave me an idea.

_“Arctis!”_ I shouted, and laid down a coating of ice on the warehouse floor under them. The _empousai_ did not like that. They screeched, slid, fell down and bowled into each other. One got up and felt her head.

“My hair!” she cried. The ice had put it out.

“My bad,” I admitted, and then hit her with enough force to throw her straight through the warehouse wall.

“I think I like this guy!” said Will from behind me. There was a thwip-zip, and an arrow went straight through another _empousai_ – hey, what’s the singular, anyway? I don’t know Greek. Another demon lady’s head. She exploded into dust.

_“Infriga!”_ I frosted over two demons who were getting too close. _“Forzare!”_ They burst into flurries.

There was a rumble that shook the ground. I glanced back over my shoulder. Goth Boy and Lou Ellen, with a bronze dagger, were finishing off the _empousai_ on their side, which were tangled in skeletons that had broken through the ground.

I looked a little too long. Will shouted a warning, and I turned around just as one of the demons made a huge leap over her sisters, baring her claws and teeth. Instinctively, I raised my left arm and barely caught her first blow, which hit so hard I knew she’d probably broken something in there. I activated my shield bracelet, throwing her back, and then hit her as hard as I could with my staff. It only pissed her off, but it gave me the time I needed to freeze her.

Will had run out of arrows, but he pulled a couple of bronze throwing knives from his belt and took out two more of the vampires. I discharged the full force of one of my kinetic-energy collectors, blowing another few _empousai_ back through the wall and blasting apart the one I’d frozen. Unfortunately, in the summer heat, my ice coating on the ground was quickly melting.

It didn’t matter. The ground heaved and buckled, and more skeletons grabbed hold of the vampires’ legs. Lou Ellen chanted from beside me, and the last few started looking dazed and confused, as if they didn’t know where they were. One of the _empousai_ snarled, burst into flames and was gone. Where, I didn’t know.

The rest of the demons either followed the one that flamed out or got dispatched quickly enough with the kids’ blades. It was over, leaving a mostly-wrecked warehouse as witness to the fight.

Lou Ellen was staring at me with wide eyes. “Wow. What was all of that? Are you a child of Hecate? Can I see your staff?”

“Hold that thought, Lou,” said Will. He darted past me and barely caught Goth Boy as he collapsed. Will lowered himself to the floor, cradling Goth Boy against him, and glanced over at Lou Ellen. “My bag.”

Lou Ellen shook herself, located Will’s bag and took it over to him. I knelt down by the boys.

“Is he okay?” I asked.

Will touched the other boy’s forehead and the base of his throat, then took one of his hands and examined it. “He overextended himself using his powers, as usual. No major injuries, he’s not actively fading, which is good, but his body temperature’s a little lower than usual, and . . .” He glanced at Goth Boy’s feet, which were literally leaking darkness. A few small cracks appeared in the floor. “He’s expelling darkness. He’ll be fine if he’s not stupid, and gods, what are the odds of that.” Will shook his head, but there was an affectionate little smile on his face.

“I’ll have you to know I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

“Explaining will take time,” said Will. “Hopefully, we’ll have some.”

Lou Ellen had brought the bag over. She pulled a water bottle full of some kind of iridescent liquid from it, unscrewed the cap and handed it to Will.

“Time to wake up, Nico,” said Will. “Come on, boyfriend. I’ll start with the gooey nicknames if you don’t. Snuggums.”

“Stop that,” rasped Goth Boy, aka Nico. He opened one eye.

“Drink.” Will lifted Nico’s head and shoulders a little and pressed the water bottle to his mouth. Nico took a few obedient swallows. Will turned his attention to a long, shallow cut across Nico’s forehead. “Salve, Lou.” Lou Ellen fished a little pot out of Will’s bag, and he started applying the salve in it to the wound.

Nico opened both eyes and wrinkled his nose. “Stop mother-henning. It’s just a scratch.”

“I’ll stop mother-henning when you start taking care of yourself. You have no idea where those _empousai_ claws have been.”

“Whatever.” Nico pushed himself up to a sitting position, looked woozy, and leaned into Will. Their foreheads touched gently.

Body language doesn’t lie. The two of them were in love. I glanced over at Lou Ellen, who surreptitiously pointed at them and mouthed, “They’re so cute.”

“So!” I said. “Back to where Goth Boy here and I were when all this happened: Who are you kids, what are you doing in my city, and why do you have Ancient Greek vampires all up in your business?”

“Do not call me ‘Goth Boy,’” Nico growled. Will and Lou Ellen smothered grins.

“I suppose introductions are in order,” said Lou Ellen. She held out a hand to me, and I shook it. I felt the buzz of magical power in her, but it was different, like her magic was on a different frequency than mine. “I’m Lou Ellen Castillo. Pleased to meet you. Can I pick your brain about the kind of magic you were doing there? Because that was really impressive!”

“Easy, girl,” said Will. He offered me his hand. “Will Solace.” I shook his hand and, again, felt that odd buzz of power. Will frowned and looked down at my left hand. “You have a cracked ulna in your left wrist. Also a lot of old injuries. Have you actually broken all your ribs?”

“Wouldn’t be surprised at all.” I pushed up my coat sleeve, and sure enough, my wrist was swollen and turning purple. “Damn. I thought I felt something break. Don’t suppose you’ve got something in your bag that’ll fix that?”

“Not in my bag, but . . .” Will took my left hand in his. “May I?”

There was something about him that made me automatically trust him. I felt, on a gut level, that he was exactly as open and friendly as he appeared. “Sure.”

Will gently pressed his right hand against the injury. His skin felt fever hot. He closed his eyes, and then he began to sing in what I guessed was Ancient Greek.

There was barely a melody to his song, but it was eerily beautiful. The heat from Will’s hand sank into my wrist, and the pain – not that much of it made it through the Winter Knight’s mantle – faded away. In a few minutes, Will took his hands away, and there was no sign the injury had ever been there.

“That is one handy talent,” I said. “Thanks.”

Nico handed Will a canteen, and then he moved slightly in front of his boyfriend and stuck out his hand. “Nico di Angelo. Who are you?”

“Charmed, I’m sure.” I gave Nico’s hand a shake. The kid had a good grip, his hand was hard with calluses, and the buzz of power I got from him was more like a sub-audible roar. I also got the impression that I would really regret it if he thought I was threatening Will in any way, shape or form. “I’m Harry Dresden, White Council wizard, Warden, and Winter Knight.”

All three of them sat up and stared at me. “What was that last one?” Will asked.

Strange reaction, and possibly sinister. “I’m the Winter Knight. Queen Mab’s personal errand boy. Why?”

The three of them looked at each other. Lou Ellen pointed at me. “I-I just never expect things to be this easy.”

“We can’t make any assumptions,” said Nico.

“No, but it does make sense,” said Will. “ ‘Find help in a winter night’ at the height of summer? I think we need to check this out.”

I made a T sign with my hands. “Time out. Explanations would be nice.”

Something crashed down nearby, making us all flinch. “Maybe somewhere a little more stable,” Will suggested.

“Yeah, this wouldn’t be the first building I’ve brought down in my time.” I stood up. “I’ve got a safe place, if you’ll trust me.”

Lou Ellen and Will seemed to be on board, but Nico was obviously wary as the collected their things – Will did his best to retrieve every arrow he’d shot and his throwing knives – and left the warehouse with me.

I’d gotten a new car. It wasn’t as sexy as my late, beloved Blue Beetle, but very few cars can be. It was still a vintage VW bug, which was the best car for a wizard like me, but cherry red. I called it the Lady Beetle. I put the boys in the back and Lou Ellen in shotgun; I was always chivalrous that way.

“So, what’s with all the powers?” I asked. I liked to think of myself as tactful and subtle.

“Oh, I’m a daughter of Hecate,” said Lou Ellen.

Hecate, Greek goddess of magic. That part made sense; the rest of it didn’t. “That a coven or something?”

Will chuckled from the back. “I think you’re going to have to start a little further back, Lou.” 

Nico, meanwhile hadn’t changed expression or taken his eyes off me since we got in the car. It was fairly unnerving.

“No, I mean my mother is the goddess Hecate,” Lou Ellen explained. “My dad’s a witch, he conjured her, they, um, got along pretty well, and now there’s me.”

I heard a mental record scratch. Was she saying . . ?

“Are you saying you’re the literal daughter of a literal Greek goddess?” I asked.

Lou Ellen grinned. “Now you’re gettin’ it!”

I looked at the boys in the back. Will was smiling, too. Nico continued to glower.

“We’re all Greek demigods,” Will said. “My father is Apollo. Nico’s is Hades.”

“Damn,” I muttered. “Just when you think you’ve heard it all.”

“Hey, you’re something new for us, too,” said Will. “Speaking of which, what’s with all the powers?”

I definitely liked him.

“Well, like I said, I’m a wizard. My mother was a wizard, my dad was a stage magician. Your basic Muggle.”

Will turned to Nico. “I have the strangest feeling this guy’s a big geek.”

“Makes two of you,” said Nico without changing expressions or taking his eyes off me.

“If you’re not careful, your face will freeze like that, Mr. Personality,” I warned him.

“It already did,” giggled Lou Ellen. I high-fived her. Will burst into a full-bellied laugh.

That’s when it hit me who this guy reminded me of: Uriel Archangel. Maybe it was just because Will’s father was the sun god, but there was a light about the kid that reminded me of Mr. Sunshine. About a zillion times less powerful, of course, but it’s a little hard to beat an archangel for power, even if you’re a demigod.

Nico took his eyes off of me long enough to roll them. “What exactly is a Winter Knight?”

“It has to do with the Fey courts, right?” asked Lou Ellen before I could get a word in. “My dad has had some dealings with the Fey, mostly from the Summer Court side.”

“Yep.” I still didn’t like being a part of the Winter Court, though I understood what they existed for. “I got drafted as the Winter Queen’s muscle a few years ago when she made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. In fact, the last job I went on for her put me in contact with Nico’s dad.”

That got Goth Boy’s attention. “You met Hades?”

“Yeah. I, uh, kind of stole some stuff from him.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t steal from my father and walk away.”

“I wouldn’t have if the whole thing hadn’t been his idea of an audition to see if I could be trusted with the stuff I stole,” I said. “Seriously, you can ask him next time you see him. He was very polite when we met. Him and his dog Spot.”

That actually made Nico laugh for a second before he caught himself. “All right, now I believe you.”

Will looked at him quizzically. “Because of Cerberus?”

“Will, think of his name in Ancient Greek for a second,” said Nico.

“Cerberus . . . Kerberos . . . ‘spotted’? Your dad named his dog Spot?” Will let out another of his sunny laughs. “Just when you think you’ve got the gods figured out. Spot!”

“Just out of curiosity, what did you steal?” Lou Ellen asked.

“A bunch of artifacts having to do with the Crucifixion.” I pulled into my apartment’s parking garage. “Also, some diamonds.”

Lou Ellen froze in the act of taking off her seatbelt. “THE Crucifixion? That was real?”

Nico gave a dry chuckle from the back. “You didn’t think our parents were the only gods out there, did you, Lou? My dad handles treasures and articles of power for literally hundreds of gods.”

I led the kids down to the apartment Molly and I supposedly shared. Truth was, she and I were rarely in the same place, thanks to the fact that she was still cleaning up Maeve’s backlog. At the moment, she was on Europa. As in, Jupiter’s moon.

“Be my guests,” I said, letting them in. “My roommate’s out of town and not due back anytime soon. You guys hungry?”

Of course they were, being teenagers. Lou Ellen asked where my bathroom was, and the boys set down their packs and flopped on the couch. I picked up the phone and dialed up Pizza Spress.

“Yeah, I’d like an extra-large . . .” I remembered my guests were teenagers. “Make that two extra-large . . .” Two of them were teenage boys. “No, three extra-large pizzas. One cheese, one pepperoni, one supreme combo.” I confirmed my address, and they said the pizzas would be there in less than an hour.

After that, I put in one more call. Charity Carpenter picked up the phone.

“Hey, Charity, it’s Harry.”

She didn’t waste words. “What’s happened?”

I’d say it was unfair of her to make assumptions like that, but Charity had known me for a long time, and it was totally fair of her to make an assumption like that.

“Teenage Ancient Greek demigods,” I said. “I sh-kid you not.” (Charity was not a fan of swearing, and the woman scared me.) “There are three in town looking for a MacGuffin of some kind. Got jumped by some Ancient Greek monsters. I’ve got ‘em at my apartment right now. Is there any chance you guys could keep Maggie overnight while this plays out?”

There was silence on the other end for a long moment. Then Charity sighed deeply. “I just need to stop asking myself what’s going to happen next. Of course we can keep Maggie. Can you get over here long enough to read to her tonight?”

“I’ll try my best. If not, I’ll call and talk to her before bed. Thanks, Charity.”

“You’re very welcome. And, Harry? Take care of yourself.”

When I got off the phone, Nico was staring at me again. I decided to let him work through whatever was going on in that head of his in his own time and fetched some Cokes out of the fridge.

“I’ve got Coke, water, OJ and some weird teas I can steal from my roommate,” I announced.

“Coke would be great,” said Will.

Lou Ellen, who’d just exited the bathroom, wanted a Coke, too. Nico continued to eyeball me, but flawlessly caught the can I tossed at him.

“Why were you casting in Italian?” he asked abruptly.

I shrugged, deciding it couldn't hurt to talk. “I cast in Spanish, Italian and Canis Latinicus.”

Nico’s scowl turned into an expression of thorough confusion. “. . . dog Latin?”

“Yeah, pretty much whatever pops into my head when I need a new spell. It’s part of being a wizard. Always cast in a language you don’t speak, or at least don’t speak well.” I tapped my head. “It adds a layer of protection to your mind. It’s a thing. My ex-apprentice casts in Japanese. I know another guy who casts in Ancient Egyptian. I’m certain there’s at least one who casts in Ancient Greek.” I opened a Coke for myself. “So, demigods. I think I’m going to need someone to bring me up to speed on this.”

Will looked like he was about to speak, but Nico said something to him in rapid Italian. Will answered in the same language, not looking happy. They had what sounded like a brief argument, and then Will switched back to English.

“Nico, we need help right now,” he said. “Harry helped us out big time in that warehouse brawl.”

Nico looked back up at me. “No offense, Mr. Dresden, but we have to be very careful who we trust on this quest. Will, you trust everybody, and Lou is . . . Lou.” Both boys looked back toward the couch, where Lou Ellen appeared to be trying to keep something from escaping her bag. “I’m not taking chances with either of your lives.”

I leaned on the counter. “If it comes to that, Shadow Boy, I’ve got three powerful new kids in my town attracting monsters, and I have no idea what to make of them.”

“Don’t call me Shadow Boy,” Nico snapped. Will did his heroic best not to smile.

“And honestly? You’re the one that concerns me the most,” I told Nico. “You’ve got a lot of power, kid, and it comes from a dark place. I respect your dad, but he scared the hell out of me when I met him. I’ve got the feeling I haven’t seen a tenth of what you’re capable of, and like I said, Chicago’s my city. I like to keep the collateral damage to a minimum when bad stuff comes to town.”

Will no longer looked amused. In fact, he looked like he was ready to put a throwing knife through my eye, but Nico set a hand on his shoulder. “So, I don’t trust you, and you don’t trust me. Where does that leave us?”

“Well, we know he can’t hurt us while we’re guests in his home,” said Lou Ellen, making all three of us guys jump. She’d managed to approach while Nico, Will and I were having our little face-off. “He’s part of a Fae court. He has to abide by their rules of hospitality. If he breaks ‘em, it’s like if one of us broke an oath we swore on the River Styx. Am I right, Mr. Dresden?”

I didn’t know about the River Styx, but I knew about the power of broken oaths in my world. “Something like that, yeah. And Nico, there’s a way you and I can figure out if we trust each other. You might not like it, but you’ll know the truth about me, and I’ll know the truth about you. It’s called a soulgaze. All you have to do is meet my eyes.”

“Could it hurt him?” Will asked.

I shook my head. “No. It might not be too pleasant – someone once fainted after soulgazing me – but it won’t do him any harm.”

Will looked down at his boyfriend. “It’s your call.”

Nico nodded. Then he met my eyes.

I had a moment to realize that what I’d taken for gray eyes were, in fact, totally without color, as if they’d been inked by an artist in black and white. Then I fell into the soulgaze.


	2. Soulgaze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Nico discover more about each other; a prophecy is revealed; Harry receives orders.

I fell. Farther and deeper than I thought possible, I fell. Scenes flashed on the walls I was falling past: A beautiful, dark-haired, dark-eyed woman; a violent burst of lightning; a river of milky water; a girl who looked a lot like Nico; a boy with striking, sea-green eyes; a campground; a thread being cut; dark caverns; wailing ghosts; horrors that left me shaken with even the slightest glimpse; a winged being with blood-red eyes; shadows that called to me to fall into them . . .

Then everything shattered.

I found myself standing in the middle of a field. Mist swirled around me, taking vague, regretful shapes for brief moments, then falling apart. It slowly cleared, leaving a shadowy form behind.

It was Nico. He had no face; he was made entirely of shadows. I still knew it was him. He was groping on the ground, searching for something. Finally, he found it: a bright, gem-like fragment. When he touched it, it absorbed into him, and a little patch of skin appeared on his face.

I looked around. Shadow-Nico and I were standing in the middle of a mist-wreathed field that stretched for miles in every direction. Here and there, fragments like those Nico had found glittered on the ground.

Fragments of Nico. The kid had been shattered so completely that he might never find all the pieces.

“An impossible task, if he were alone,” said a basso voice from behind me.

I whipped around, and there was Nico’s daddy, looking like he had last time I’d seen him. “Lord Hades.”

Hades nodded to me, and then he pointed. “Look.”

A girl walked out of the mist. She was a pretty little thing, also a teenager, with dark skin, tightly-curled hair and amazing golden eyes. She carried with her, cupped in her hands, some of Nico’s fragments.

“I found these,” she said in a New Orleans accent. She held them out, and Nico took them. “I love you, big brother.”

A tall, blond boy wearing glasses approached next. “Trust that I’m your friend,” he said, and gave Nico more fragments.

A young woman, tall and regal, wearing Roman armor, strode across the field to Nico. “You always have a place with me, my friend,” she said, and offered Nico still more fragments.

There were others, now: the green-eyed boy I’d seen during my fall, a satyr, a blond girl with intelligent gray eyes, a beautiful brunette with eyes that changed color, and still more. They were searching for and finding the pieces Nico needed to make himself whole.

Will Solace was there, too. As Nico’s face started to come together, Will ran his hand over it, whispering, “I love you,” and all the tiny cracks between fragments healed and disappeared.

It was one of the saddest, but most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, to watch this boy who’d obviously been so badly broken trying to put himself back together with the help of people who loved him.

I turned back to Hades. “What happened to him?”

Hades sighed deeply. “Many years ago, I loved a mortal woman named Maria di Angelo. She bore me two children, Nico and his older sister, Bianca. My children have, historically, not been, shall we say, stable. You've seen Nico's power; imagine that in the hands of one who has gone mad, as so many of them have. Zeus disapproved of my decision to father more demigods, and he took it upon himself to rectify the situation. With extreme prejudice.

“I tried to protect Maria and the children, but Zeus killed her. I hid Bianca and Nico as well as I could. I had them stripped of their memories, even taken out of time, but their blood was too powerful. They couldn’t stay hidden. Bianca died, leaving Nico with no one in the mortal world to trust, no one he believed would accept, let alone love, him. He wandered the mortal world and the Underworld. I . . . did not make things easier for him. Persephone was resentful, and his mortal side was something I could not understand.”

Hades looked sorrowfully at his son. “He has his mother’s heart, something I failed to see until he forced me to. He challenged me to give up my anger at Olympus and come to the aid of the mortal world. He earned the authority he has in the Underworld. He found a little sister in the daughter of my Roman aspect, Pluto. And he worked to save the world again, falling into Tartarus and then nearly consigning himself to oblivion in an effort to save those he loved in spite of himself. Though I can take little credit for what he has become, I am proud of him. It is my fondest hope for him that he can find happiness.”

I followed Hades closer to Nico, who was still putting himself back together. The fragments were tiny; even with help, he would need years to find them all. Will touched him again, healing over the scars.

“I approve of the son of Apollo,” said Hades. “Nico’s power comes from the Underworld, and the more he uses it, the more a part of the Underworld he becomes. He knows this. Will Solace draws him into the light. As . . . difficult as I have always found Apollo, the boy is what my son needs. I think you understand, Harry Dresden.”

“Yeah, I do.” I thought about all the people who’d dragged me back to the light in my darkest times. Karrin, the Carpenters, my brother, my little girl, all my friends who someone like me could never deserve . . .

“During this quest, my son will make a request of you, one that you will resist agreeing to,” said Hades. “It is imperative that you do, however. I trust you with my son, Harry Dresden, with the last demigod who will ever be born of me. Please . . . take care of him.”

And the soulgaze ended.

***

Nico and I both shuddered as we came back to ourselves. Lou Ellen looked from one of us to the other curiously. Will’s attention was focused on Nico. Nico’s was focused on me. I couldn’t read his expression.

“Nico? Nico, are you okay?” Will asked, setting a protective hand on his boyfriend’s back.

Nico started a little at Will’s touch and looked at him. “I’m okay.” He looked back at me. “We can trust him.”

“Just like that?” Will asked, looking at me.

“Just like that.” Nico took a deep breath. “You were right, Dresden; I didn’t enjoy that. But I know who you are now. It’s not in you to turn on someone who needs your help. And Will’s right; we need your help.”

“Well, that’s cool,” said Lou Ellen. “Hey, can I try next?”

“No!” Nico and I both snapped.

“Nico’s safe now, because a soulgaze is a one-time thing,” I told her. “You and Will aren’t. A soulgaze is rarely fun and games, and it’s always intense. I’m good at avoiding eye contact for a reason. Now: What brings a trio of demigods to Chicago?”

The explanation got off to a few false starts, and I ended up learning all about a place called Camp Half-Blood. Apparently, the Greek gods collectively could not keep it in their pants.

“My father’s a complete slut,” Will admitted cheerfully.

“So’s my brother,” I said. “Continue!”

We were briefly interrupted by the pizzas arriving. The kids tore into them with impressive gusto. Lou Ellen turned out to be a force to be reckoned with when it came to pepperoni.

Nico picked up the narrative. “Last week, my father came to me in a dream and said the Spindle of Necessity has been stolen. Have you ever heard of it?” I shook my head. “The most famous account of it comes from the myth of Er.”

“Air? Like the stuff we breathe?”

“No, Er. It’s Romanized E-r, and all possible stupid jokes about that have already been made by the Hermes cabin, so save your breath. The story was ancient even in Ancient Greece. Er was a hero who died temporarily and found himself in the primordial afterlife. He witnessed people being reborn after death as the goddess Ananke, or Necessity, wove their new fates using the Spindle. When Hades took over as Lord of the Underworld, the Spindle passed to him. The Fates use it whenever heroes in Elysium are reborn.” Nico paused, his eyes growing darker, sadder. “Like my sister.”

I absorbed that. “How could it be used by whoever stole it?”

“Any number of ways,” said Nico. “You could re-weave your fate with it. Or someone else’s. Create an entirely new life. Basically, it could overwrite reality for someone on a small or large scale, depending on how powerful they are. It’s not the kind of power that should be at large in this world.”

I could agree with that. I knew of plenty of nasties who’d love that kind of power. “So, Dad turns up and asks you to retrieve this Spindle of Necessity, and your search has led you to Chicago.”

Nico nodded. “I went to the Oracle at camp, the Pythia, and she gave me a prophecy:

“By windy city the Spindle find,  
Shadow sword new fate unwind.  
Magic’s child and healing light  
Find help in a winter night.”

“Windy city equals Chicago, and I’m going to guess that this guy,” I pointed at Nico, “has the ‘shadow sword.’”

“Yes. Since my father asked me to find the Spindle, I was asked to lead the quest,” Nico went on. “‘Magic’s child’ meant a child of Hecate, and Lou Ellen is the best magic user we have at camp. ‘Healing light’ had to mean a child of Apollo with healing powers.” Nico looked discomfited.

Will smiled affectionately. “He didn’t really want to take me on a dangerous quest, but I’m the strongest healer we have. Besides, I insisted.”

Nico looked worried, and I remembered what I’d overheard them say about Will having only about a week before something got bad. I mentally added that to the list of questions I needed to ask them.

I turned to Lou Ellen. “How have you been searching for the Spindle?”

“Well, we can’t track it directly,” she said. “There’s no way to do that. Besides, whoever’s taken it has covered their tracks very well. Hades gave Nico half of a sort of device to find it, though. If we can find the other half, we can find the Spindle with it.”

“My father created the map – that’s what he calls it – as a failsafe in case something like the Spindle was ever stolen. He kept one half and entrusted the other to a mortal. I don’t know who, and I don’t know when.” Nico got up, found his backpack and pulled a small bronze plate from it. “Because artifacts from the Underworld are usually very dangerous, the map is something that can only be found, put together and used by demigods. Chiron said there’s a son of Hephaestus in Chicago who can help us put it together once we find both pieces.”

I took the map piece and looked it over. “Well, one of my specialties is finding things. Lou Ellen, I can probably help you compensate for the magical influences in Chicago so you can try your location spell again. We can do it in the morning.” I could see Nico starting to object. “Don’t. You already collapsed once today, and these two-” I indicated Will and Lou Ellen “-don’t look much better. Tell me you don’t need a good night’s rest.”

Nico still looked set to argue, but Will set a hand on his arm. “He’s right, Nico. We’re all beat. This is a good place to rest. It’s shielded; can’t you feel it?” Nico reluctantly nodded. “We’ll all feel better after some sleep.”

“I sure will,” said Lou Ellen. “Mr. Dresden, do you have a washing machine we can use? I’m starting to stink, and Will has that teenage-boy funk goin’ on. Even Nico’s starting to smell, and he never smells like anything.”

I managed not to laugh at the expressions on Will and Nico’s faces. “No washing machine, but I have a laundry service. There’s a hamper in my room. If you put your dirty clothes in it and set it outside the door, everything will be clean, pressed and folded in the morning.” I stood and pointed out Molly’s room. “That’s my roommate’s room, which you can use, and the other one’s mine, which you can’t, but you boys can dig in my bureau for something to sleep in if you need. Lou, my roommate’s about a foot taller than you, but I’m sure you could use one of her nightshirts. Someone can crash on the couch, too. Feel free to shower. Definitely shower; Lou wasn’t kidding when she said you three are starting to smell bad.” I winked at her. “I’m going to be out for a little while. Don’t have a wild party or whatever it is you kids do these days.”

Will looked at me quizzically. “You’re . . . trusting us alone in your apartment? Just like that?”

I made eye contact with Nico, who lifted his head fractionally. “Yep. Just like that. Don’t wait up!” I grabbed my coat and left.

By the time I got to the Carpenter house, it was slightly past Maggie’s bedtime, but Charity had let her stay up until I got there or called. My little daughter and my super-sized dog, Mouse, greeted me with great enthusiasm, and all the tension of the day just drained away.

There was nothing more wonderful or more terrifying in my life than being a parent.

I put Maggie to bed as she told me everything she’d done that day, and I told her about the trio of demigods I’d met, doing my best to minimize the fight at the warehouse. There was a child’s book of Greek myths on her bookshelf, so I read a story about Perseus defeating Medusa to her.

Maggie looked at me very seriously. “You’re going to help them?”

“Yep,” I said. “They’re doing something important.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

My heart broke a little. “I always come back, Maggie. I promise I’ll always come back.”

Her little forehead wrinkled. “Nevertheless,” she said, pronouncing it carefully, probably trying out a word she’d heard around the house, “I’d feel better if you took Mouse.” Mouse perked up in his cave under the bed.

“Nevertheless, eh?”

“Nevertheless.”

“You really think I should take Mouse?”

She nodded. “Mouse will protect you.”

“But what if you need him?”

“I have Mama and Papa Carpenter and Amanda and Hope and Harry.” She nodded decisively. “You should take Mouse.”

I smoothed her hair out of her face. “Well, since you put it that way, I guess I will. I promise I’ll bring him back safely.”

“He’ll bring you back safely.” She smiled, and everything in the world was right for that moment.

“Okay, you furbeast,” I said to my dog. “Ready for another adventure?”

He whuffed softly and wagged his tail, thumping the wall. I took that as a yes. I turned back to my daughter.

“I love you very much, my baby girl,” I told her, and kissed her forehead. “Sleep tight.”

“Good night, Daddy. I love you back.”

I tucked her in, turned out the light, and left the room, Mouse coming with me. Michael and Charity were in the living room, talking softly. They both looked up when I came in.

“Teenage demigods, Harry?” Michael asked, looking amused. Michael and Charity were way into the big-G God, but they understood that some other powerful beings were at large in the universe.

“Apparently, the Olympians are still around and knocking people up. Or getting themselves knocked up,” I said. “The kids are pretty powerful, but almost . . . normal, for teenagers.”

“That’s never very normal,” Charity pointed out. She still had three under her roof.

I shrugged, giving her the point, and told them about how I’d met the kids and what they’d told me. “I have no idea how long they’ll be in Chicago, but they seem to be on a timetable. At least, one of them is.” I scratched Mouse behind the ears. “Maggie has decreed that I need to take Mouse.”

“She worries about you,” said Charity.

Michael gave me a sympathetic look. “That’s never an easy thing for a father to know.”

I thought about all the years his wife and kids had to say goodbye to him as he went off literally Lord-knows-where, never knowing if they’d see him again, and nodded. “Yeah, I wish I didn’t have to put her through that, but . . .”

“You are who you are, my friend.” Michael’s voice was gentle. “And Maggie is very much her father’s daughter. We’ll look after her while you and Mouse are doing what you have to do. And we’ll be praying.”

A lump grew in my throat. For all the pain and horror that I'd experienced in my life, I wouldn’t have traded a second of it if it meant giving up even one of my friends or family. Or my friends who were family, like the Carpenters.

“I’ll keep in touch,” I promised. “Let you know what’s going on.”

Michael and Charity followed me down the stairs to the entry way. I grabbed Mouse’s (unnecessary) lead and my coat, and I hugged my friends goodbye. “Thanks, guys. It makes all the difference to know Maggie’s in safe hands while I can’t keep her.”

“The Lord bless you and keep you, Harry,” said Charity.

I left their house with her blessing in my ears.

***

I stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some extra food. With teenagers in the house, I figured I’d need it. When I got back to my apartment, it was dark inside. The door to Molly’s room was slightly ajar. I peeked in. Will and Nico had taken the bed, Will tucked under the covers, Nico on top of them, one arm thrown protectively over his boyfriend.

They really were cute. I thought about what I’d seen in my soulgaze with Nico, how Will was healing him. Many adults never found love like that. Maybe there were compensations for how fast they had to grow up.

Lou Ellen was snoozing on the couch. Mouse sniffed her, seemed to approve, and stretched out on the rug.

I took a shower before bed. One of the great things about having an apartment designed by svartalves was that they knew how to engineer for wizards. Unlike my old apartment, where the water heater never worked, in this one, the water heater was shielded and the water pumped in through strictly mechanical means, no electricity needed. Hot showers are some of the best things in the world, and don’t let anyone tell you differently.

Back in my room, I looked regretfully at the child’s bed beside mine, where Maggie slept when things were stable enough that I could keep her. I wished I could give her a normal life, but I couldn’t. All I could give her was my love. Michael kept telling me no father could give more, but part of being a father is always wishing for more to give. At least she was safe with people who loved her.

I went to bed and fell asleep pondering demigods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the soulgaze is the whole reason I wrote this fic. Everything else sort of grew up around it.


	3. The Breakfast of Demigods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will makes breakfast, Lou Ellen tries again, Nico doesn't like pretty-boy vampires around his boyfriend, and Harry gets no respect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated 6/26/2017: I didn't like part of this chapter, so I did some minor surgery on the part where they meet Thomas. And, because I'm me, I changed a few other things, too.

I woke up to the murmur of voices and the smell of breakfast. It took me a few seconds to reacquaint myself with the previous day’s events (teenage demigods in my apartment), and then to haul my ass out of bed.

Lou Ellen and Will were up, and Will, wearing a pair of my sweatpants and an old t-shirt of mine, had taken over my kitchen. He and Lou Ellen were chatting quietly as he cooked up a mess of scrambled eggs and bacon. It smelled like heaven. Mouse was right in there with them. As I watched, Will grabbed a strip of bacon from where they were cooling on a plate after frying and tossed it to my dog.

“Careful, he’ll follow you home if you feed him,” I warned.

Lou Ellen grinned at me. “Morning, Mr. Dresden!”

“Hope you don’t mind me using your quaintly retro kitchen,” said Will. “I figured the least I could do was get breakfast ready. Do you do coffee?”

“At times, it’s the only thing that makes my life worth living.” I spotted where Will had set up my “quaintly retro” percolator, which was perking away. “Will, buddy, I may ask you to move in after this.”

“Yeah, don’t go stealing Nico’s boyfriend. It won’t go well,” said Lou Ellen.

Will tossed Mouse another piece of bacon. “You’ve subverted my dog,” I complained.

“What breed is he?” asked Will. “He looks like a chow-chow multiplied by a Wookiee.”

“Nailed it in one. Also known as the Greater Himalayan Furbeast.” The coffee pot finished perking, and I poured a cup of coffee for myself. “Actually, Mouse is a Foo dog. Mystical breed. He decided I would be his human when he was just a little gray puppy and has since grown to be a monstrosity. He’ll be helping us out.” Mouse panted smugly at me and accepted another piece of bacon from Will.

“Ooh, a Foo dog, like in Chinese mythology? Temple guardians?” asked Lou Ellen, pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

I was pleased she knew. “Again, nailed it in one. He’s got some special abilities for taking on supernatural baddies, and he’s as intelligent as a human.” Mouse made a grumbling noise. “Okay, more intelligent than most humans.”

Will looked down at him. “He . . . understood what you were saying?”

“Yep.”

Will’s eyes shone with mischief as he spoke to my dog. “Hey, boy, would you go wake up Nico? Lick his face all over, he’ll love it.”

Mouse thundered out of the kitchen and nosed open Molly’s door, and a second later, loud Italian cursing poured out. There was a bit of commotion, Mouse trotted out, looking proud of himself, and, after a minute, Nico grumped his way out of the bedroom and to the bathroom.

“I’m gonna pay for that,” Will said cheerfully.

A couple of minutes later, Nico, in my favorite Iron Maiden t-shirt and a pair of my sweat shorts, exited the bathroom, glared at all and sundry, and poured himself a cup of coffee. We all sat down to breakfast. Just a wizard and three teenage demigods, nothing special.

Will turned out to be an excellent breakfast cook, and I told him so. “You ever need a job, I might just be hiring.”

He smiled that sunny smile. “I like cooking. Don’t get much of a chance to do it at camp. Lucky for you, I have experience with woodstoves. By the way, why the woodstove?”

“Wizards and technology don’t go together,” I told him. “All the appliances in here are at least fifty years old. Anything newer would go haywire around me. The apartment was built by svartalves, or the electricity would never work. As it is, they have a lot of maintenance to do.”

“Svartalves? I thought they were evil,” said Lou Ellen.

“Not evil, just . . . very alien. You have to approach them in a way they understand. My roommate did them a solid, and they believe in repaying favors. This?” I gestured around the apartment. “It’s how they say thanks.”

“Sounds almost like the gods,” said Will. “They don’t adjust to you; you have to adjust to them. I think it goes with the territory of being gods. Get on their good side, and they may do you all kinds of favors. Get on their bad side? You don’t want to know.”

“I believe that. I’ve met Odin a few times. Cool guy if he likes you, but he could also squash me with a thought,” I said.

Lou Ellen spoke up again. “You know, come to think of it, the Hecate cabin kind of makes technology go haywire, too. The Hephaestus kids don’t like it when I come around, because things always start going wrong with their tech projects.”

“Sounds familiar.” I helped myself to more bacon. Mouse was trying to Jedi Mind Trick me into giving him some. “If you have a cell phone, don’t let me touch it. It’ll end up an expensive paperweight.”

“We do have one cell phone, just in case of emergencies, but it’s a bad idea for demigods to use them routinely. It’s like sending up a signal to monsters,” said Will.

Nico finished his coffee and finally deigned to speak. “What’s the plan for today?”

“I don’t plan. I’m like Batman that way,” I said. Somehow, I still failed to charm Nico. The kid was a tough room all by himself.

“I’m assuming we’re going to be trying to locate the thingy at some point,” Lou Ellen suggested.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got some ideas for how to block out interference. We can do it whenever you’re ready, Lou.”

We finished breakfast, and Lou Ellen volunteered herself and Nico to do the dishes. “Will made breakfast. You two, shoo.” She waved a hand at Will and me. Nico grumbled a bit, but joined her at the sink.

“I’m going to go outside and say hi to Dad,” said Will.

I poured the rest of the coffee into my mug. “I’ll join you.”

It was a nice morning, clear and bright. Will leaned against the side of the building, absorbing the sunlight. I took the chance to ask him something that had been bothering me.

“Hey, Will, when I was spying on you yesterday, Nico was worried about you having some kind of time limit. What was that about?”

Will opened an eye and looked at me for a moment before answering. “I’m empathic. I can pinpoint injuries when I touch people, but I don’t need touch to know they’re there. I’m especially sensitive to pain. In a big city like this?” He indicated Chicago with a gesture. “There are lots of ambient emotions. Too many, really. I have pretty good mental barriers, but eventually, they’ll get overwhelmed. I generally have around a week before things start getting bad.”

“Ah. And you’ve been here how long?”

“Just three days. We’ve been on the road longer, but not all of that has been in cities. And I healed you yesterday, which helps me purge some of the psychic crud. If we can find the rest of the map and locate the Spindle . . . well, I hope it doesn’t take too long.” Will sighed. “I might’ve made a mistake in coming on this quest. I’ve got this problem, and I’m not the best fighter.”

That didn’t really jibe with the fight at the warehouse. “You looked pretty good yesterday.”

Will shrugged. “I’m not bad with a bow and throwing knives, but I’m fairly useless up close in a melee. I just . . . I’ve seen Nico go off on quests, risking his life every time, never knowing if I’ll see him again. Two years ago, he barely made it back to camp. Used his powers so much he almost faded into oblivion. We weren’t even together then, but it scared me, how close he came to fading forever. He was just fourteen.”

“You wanted to keep an eye on him this time?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I just wanted to prove to myself that I’m worthy of him.” Will looked down, eyes troubled. “Now I’m just hoping I won’t be a liability.”

I thought about the soulgaze. “Or maybe you’re helping him more than you know.”

Will looked at me intently. I automatically avoided his eyes. “I’d love to know what you saw in his soul . . . but I won’t ask.”

“Good, because I wouldn’t tell. Let’s just say I get why he’s Mr. Intensity.”

Will laughed. “You’re seeing Nico turned up to eleven because he’s on a quest and protecting his boyfriend and another good friend. Back at camp, he’s a whole lot looser. When he feels safe, he’s sort of dorky. Even sweet, though he’d deny it even under torture. And kind, too.” Will’s eyes had gone soft. “He’s amazing with people who are grieving. The Hades cabin is a haven for people who have lost someone. Nico’s not huge on physical contact, but with mourners . . . he’ll sit with them, hold their hands, take some of their grief on himself. He always knows what to do and say. They leave his cabin with less pain than they entered with.”

I felt myself start to smile. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”

“Damn right.” Will smiled that gentle, sunshiny smile of his. “Demigods don’t have the longest shelf life. I’ve been through three supernatural wars since I was thirteen. Barely got out of the last one alive. We have to grow up fast, and our relationships tend to be intense. I’m so glad I found Nico. Whatever happens, however long we live . . . I know I’ll never regret loving him.”

I had to grow up fast, too, but looking back on myself when I was Will’s age, I was nowhere near as secure and serene as he was. “When did you know you were a demigod?”

“I was ten. It’s pretty typical for demigod powers to start coming in during late childhood or early adolescence, though some signs of being a demigod – like special skills – come in earlier. I’d started getting very sensitive to other people’s emotions, I was living in Austin, Texas, and . . . it was getting bad.” He sighed. “That was when my mom sat me down and gave me the Talk, but it went a little differently than for most kids. It was more, ‘Honey, your father is a Greek god, and there’s someplace I’m taking you where you’ll learn to deal with this, and by the way, I know you’re gay and it’s fine.’ Next thing I knew, I was at Camp Half-Blood and learning that I’ll never be able to live in even a small city again. I see my mom a few times a year. We miss each other, but it’s the tradeoff for my gifts.” Will looked up at me. “What about you? When did you become a wizard?”

“My powers started showing up around puberty. That’s pretty typical. I was an orphan, so I didn’t have anybody to explain to me what was happening. Then, the first person who did was not a good person.” I thought about my foster father Justin, what he’d meant to a kid with no real home, and how bitter his betrayal was. “My teenage years are not exactly something I recall with fondness. I eventually met my mentor and things got better, but for a while . . . it was a close thing, whether all I’d been through was going to make me into something I don’t ever want to be.”

Will nodded, his eyes full of sympathy. “That’s happened with demigods, too. We had some turn against the gods out of bitterness for how their lives had gone. And it seems like the more powerful a demigod is, the harder their lives are. Nico is one of the most powerful demigods of our generation, and power always comes at a price.”

“You can say that again.” I finished my coffee and pushed away from the wall. “We should probably get ready to go. Not to say you don’t look great in my sweats, but . . .”

“I’m walking on the cuffs,” said Will. “You’re way too tall, you know that? I’m pushing six foot, and you make me feel short.”

“It’s a gift. C’mon.” 

The laundry hamper was sitting outside the door when we got back, the clothes inside clean and folded. I grabbed it, and we went inside. Lou Ellen and Nico had finished the dishes, and she was examining my duster. She ran her hand over it, and the protective spells I’d laid on it fluoresced under her fingers.

“This is so cool!” A rune lit up as she touched it. “How’d you do this?”

“Tattoo needles,” I said. “Takes a while, but it’ll stop bullets, knives and demon claws.”

“I am totally stealing this. Erm, the idea, not the coat. Hey, is that my laundry?”

Once the kids were dressed and ready to go, we piled into my car and headed back to the warehouse district where I’d found them the first time. I figured it was as likely as spot as any to get a lead. They were surprised when I had Mouse follow us on foot, but he looked like he’d just had a pleasant walk when we reached our destination.

“That’s . . . impressive,” said Nico.

“He can stand guard for us, too,” I said. “Nothing gets past a Foo dog.”

I drew a large circle on the blacktop around Lou Ellen and activated it. “Okay, try your spell from in there and see how it goes.”

She spent some time chalking in her own circle. Then she laid the bronze plate down and started chanting. After a few moments, it stirred slightly and then lifted a couple of inches off the ground.

Lou Ellen made a delighted sound. “It took! Let’s see if we can get a direction.”

I scuffed my shoe on the outer circle, breaking it, and the bronze plate immediately swung around, pointing northeast. Lou Ellen carefully slid her hand under it and raised it. The plate hovered barely an inch off of her hand, and when she turned in a circle, remained pointing northeast.

“Okay, we got this,” she said. “Thataway.”

We piled back into my car. I had a feeling I knew where it was pointing, roughly, and sure enough, Lake Michigan soon came into view. I headed for a familiar marina.

“It looks like it’s pointing out over the lake,” said Lou Ellen. “Don’t suppose you have a boat?”

“I might just be able to set you up with one, yes.” I pulled into the parking lot and headed toward where my brother Thomas’s boat, the Water Beetle, was usually moored. I could pilot the thing myself if I had to, but I was hoping . . .

A couple of middle-aged ladies on the deck of another moored boat were fighting over a pair of binoculars.

“Don’t hog him, Jen,” said one, reaching for the binoculars.

“He’s just so pretty,” Jen sighed.

“There’s a good sign,” I told the kids. They looked at me, nonplused. “You’ll see in a minute.”

And, sure enough, as we approached the Water Beetle, I saw that Thomas was cleaning the stern, shirtless.

You have to understand: There was handsome, and then there was my half-brother. Male models only wished they could be as really, really, ridiculously good-looking at Thomas. Movie stars would have murdered for his face and body. I say this as a thoroughly heterosexual male. Thomas, in short, was hot. Supernaturally hot, actually; he was a White Court vampire who literally fed on sex. Fortunately, he was in a relationship with his girlfriend Justine. And her girlfriends. It was all very sordid, and I wasn’t jealous at all.

“Cover your shame, man!” was how I announced myself.

Thomas didn’t even look at me. “Shame is for those who are not paragons of physical perfection,” he said.

He’s got an ego about his looks, too. I couldn’t say it wasn't warranted. In fact, I was starting to worry a little about bringing a teenage girl and two gay teenage boys to meet him.

“There are children present,” I said, and that got Thomas’s attention.

He spotted the teens, sighed, and pulled on a shirt. “Harry, what’ve you gotten yourself into now?”

Why so many people had so little faith in me, I could not have told you.

“Greek mythology, which turns out to be true. We’re hunting a MacGuffin. Mind driving us? I’ll explain on the way.” I turned to the teens. “Kids, this is Thomas Raith. You can trust him. Thomas, this is Lou Ellen Castillo, daughter of Hecate; Will Solace, son of Apollo; and Nico di Angelo, son of Hades.”

The boys were doing about what I’d expected. Both of them looked like their eyeballs had just been molested by Thomas’s bare chest. Lou Ellen, on the other hand . . .

She marched right up to Thomas, smiled at him, and offered him a handshake. “Thanks for helpin’ us out, Mr. Raith. Much obliged!”

With that, she boarded the boat, not even taking another glance at Thomas, who could only blink.

Will shook off his Thomas-induced stupor first and offered a hand. “Uh, thanks for helping us with the, uh, boat.”

I was curious as to what would happen when Will touched Thomas, and I wasn’t disappointed in the reaction. Will’s eyes widened, and curiosity overtook attraction.

“You have absolutely no physical injuries at all,” said the son of Apollo. “That’s just not possible with humans.”

Nico seemed to have shaken off his stupor, too. “He’s not really human, though, is he? I can tell from here that he’s not mortal.”

“I’m not really human,” agreed Thomas with a slightly bitter grin.

“Thomas is a vampire,” I told the boys. Will, probably involuntarily, glanced up at the sun. “Not that kind. Thomas is White Court, a psychic vampire. He never had any choice in the matter, by the way.”

Nico stepped up, placing himself so he was slightly in front of his boyfriend. Looking at him and Thomas, I suddenly realized why Nico had reminded me so strongly of my brother. Though Nico was a few inches shorter, he and Thomas had the same kind of build, all lean muscle. More than that, though, they moved the same way, like hunting cats. Predators.

He and my brother silently sized each other up. After a moment, Nico stuck out his hand. “Nico di Angelo.”

Thomas took it and gave it a shake. “Thomas Raith. Don’t worry, I’m not after your boyfriend.”

“Good,” said Nico.

“Down, boy,” muttered Will.

Nico dropped Thomas’s hand, took Will’s, and the two of them boarded the Water Beetle. I stayed behind with Thomas for a second.

“Greek demigods.” Thomas shook his head. “Just when I think I’ve seen it all, you always manage to prove me wrong.”

“I pride myself on that,” I said. “That actually went better than I thought it would, given that they’re all teenagers.”

Thomas gave a humorless laugh. “Well, the boys are deeply in love – virgins, if I’m any judge, which I am, but it still gives them a measure of protection against White Court vamps – and the girl is asexual. Even I can’t do much with aces.”

“And here I thought you were losing your touch, Old Man.”

“Get on board, whippersnapper.” Thomas rubbed Mouse’s head. “You, too, kid.”

We boarded, and I joined Thomas behind the wheel. “See that thing in Lou Ellen’s hand? We’re following where it points. Think you can take directions?”

Thomas glared at me and took the boat out. “You’d better have a good explanation for all this. By the way, you need a haircut. You’re verging on a mullet. I’m kind of embarrassed to be seen with you.”

I eyed his black curls. He didn’t even condition. “If you’re afraid I’ll bring down the value of your real estate, why don’t you haul Toe-Moss out and cut it for me?” Toe-moss was Thomas’s gay European hairdresser alter ego from a mildly embarrassing episode in his past.

“Toe-moss is too upscale for your raggedy ass. I’d have to play Tom from Joe’s Barbershop to tackle the mess on your head.”

“See how your hair looks after I accidentally set it on fire.”

“Been there, done that, still sexy.”

Will suddenly laughed. “You two are brothers.”

Thomas and I both looked at him. “How did you know?” I asked.

“Because I have a ton of brothers, and I know brotherly bickering when I hear it. It’s kind of adorable, actually.” He grinned, and even Nico cracked a smile.

“That’s me. Adorable.” Thomas winked at Will, who blushed. “Now, I believe someone owes me an explanation.”

I gave him the rundown on the previous day. Nico got bored midway through and went down to stand in the stern, as if on guard duty.

“You and your life, little bro,” Thomas laughed.

“Little bro?” Will asked incredulously.

Lou Ellen looked between the two of us. “Yeah, I don’t see it.”

“I’m older,” said Thomas. “Harry has some country miles on him.”

“Also, Thomas is, I might say again, a vampire,” I pointed out. “He doesn’t even exfoliate.”

Thomas tossed his head of perfect black curls. “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” 

Will laughed at us. “You two are brothers, all right. Reminds me of my cabin.”

“How many kids does Apollo have, anyway?” Thomas asked.

Will thought about it. “I have somewhere around thirty demigod siblings that I know of, and that doesn’t even count other things my dad has spawned. You get some weird sibling situations when your dad is a god.”

Thomas gave him another bitter smile. “Same with a vampire parent. I have a bunch of sisters, but my father killed all my brothers. Then my oldest sister ate his brain.”

Will’s eyes widened. “I’m not going to ask about that, because I really don’t want to know.”

“Good call. Vampire family politics are an ugly, ugly thing, even among the pretty people,” I said.

“And, let’s face it, they don’t come prettier than me.” Thomas winked at Will again. I half expected Nico to come charging in with that black sword of his. Will just rolled his eyes, smiling, and wandered down to the deck, where Nico was looking out over the water.

Lou Ellen held up the bronze plate, which was starting to indicate a bit to the left. “Think we got a course adjustment here.”

Thomas nodded. “Harry, I’m starting to get a feeling about where this is headed.”

I was, too. “Yeah. Demonreach.”

***

The island known as Demonreach in Lake Michigan was not a place people knew about, for the most part, and it was best not to look for it. Best case scenario, you’d never find it. Worst case, you did, and it killed you.

People tried to settle it once, and the ruins of an old cannery were still visible as the Water Beetle approached. Too many deaths and too many cases of insanity drove them away, and the island lay empty of all inhabitants until a certain wizard got a bug up his butt about it.

Yeah, that was me.

Demonreach wasn’t just an island; it was a prison, reserved for the most dangerous beings ever to walk, crawl or slither across the surface of the planet. It was a place of such dark energy that few humans could bear it for long. I could, though, because I won a battle against the _genius loci_ that inhabited the island and became its warden.

In short, it didn’t surprise me at all that an artifact from the Underworld would turn up on Demonreach. Frankly, it figured.

Thomas steered the boat to the dock he and I had created a few summers back, and we made the boat fast.

“I am getting a bad, bad vibe from this place,” said Lou Ellen.

“Yeah, you should be. It’s not a nice place,” I told her.

Nico’s eyes wandered the shoreline. “There are spirits all over. How many people have died here?”

Even Will looked less sunny. “I think I’ll be glad when we’re headed away from this island.”

“Well, folks, the good news is, I’m the perfect guide to the island,” I said. “As long as you’re here with me, it won’t try to kill you. I can’t promise you’ll want to build a vacation house here, though.”

Mouse and I stepped onto the shore of Demonreach, and instantly, new information flooded my mind. I knew the location of every plant and animal on it. I knew there’d been a small landslide on the far side thanks to heavy rains in the spring.

“Give me that thing, would you, Lou?” I said. She handed me the map piece. I concentrated for a moment, and I knew exactly where the other piece of the map was buried. “We’ve got a bit of a hike ahead of us. Walk where I walk.”

Nico and Will came to join us –

\- and the second his foot hit the soil of Demonreach, Will screamed and fell. Thomas caught him.

“Will!” Nico was instantly at his boyfriend’s side.

“It doesn’t want us, it doesn’t want us here,” whimpered Will, clutching his head. “It hurts . . .”

Will. Empath. Me. Stupid wizard.

“Get him back on the dock!” I snapped.

Thomas, understanding, picked Will up and deposited him back on the dock. Nico knelt by him and glared at me as Will leaned into him.

“What happened to him?” Nico demanded.

“What happened is that I messed up,” I said, crouching down beside them. “Will’s an empath. I should’ve known the island would be too much for him. I’m sorry.”

Will’s face was white, and his eyes were dull as he looked at me. “It’s alive.”

I nodded. “Demonreach is a _genius loci_. It knows and respects me. I’m truly sorry, Will; I didn’t know it would hit you this hard.”

“It’s okay,” he assured me, though he looked like he was about to throw up his whole breakfast, and possibly mine as well. “I’ll have to stay here, though.”

“Then I’ll stay with you,” Nico said.

“No.” Will pushed himself upright. “It’s your father’s artifact; you might be needed in order to retrieve it. You have to go with them.”

Nico shook his head. “I’m not leaving you alone, not here.”

“Nico, you do what’s necessary. You always have,” Will said. “This is what you have to do now. I’ll be okay.”

Nico almost looked like he was going to cry. He knelt there, irresolute, torn between protecting the boy he loved and doing his duty. I could understand that.

Thomas broke the stalemate. “I’ll stay with him.”

Nico really didn’t look like he wanted to leave his boyfriend alone with Thomas.

“You can trust my brother, Nico,” I said. “All other things aside, Thomas is in love with someone else.”

A gentle smile crossed Thomas’s face. “Her name’s Justine. I promise you, your boyfriend’s virtue is safe with me, and I’ll kill anything that tries to hurt him.”

I nodded. “He’s good at that kind of thing.”

“Go on. I’ll be okay.” Will spoke some soft Italian to Nico, who finally nodded.

“Okay.” Nico helped Will to his feet, and with one last look back, joined me.

As we left, I heard Will say to Thomas, “My head’s pounding. Got any painkillers on board?”

“I have a full medical kit,” said Thomas. “My little brother is really good at hurting himself.”

“Seriously, he’s had, like, _all_ the injuries . . .”

I got no respect at all.

***

I led Mouse, Nico and Lou Ellen around the island to the stone stairs that are the safest way to the top. Nico’s eyes kept darting around, following things I couldn’t see. Lou Ellen stuck very close to Mouse, one hand on his back, pale under her freckles. None of us spoke.

There was a snake hidden in the bushes ahead of us. I batted at it with my staff, and it went slithering away. I sent a mental message out to any other dangerous critters on the island to steer clear. They did.

Finally, we got to the top. Nico shivered.

“So much death,” he murmured.

“There’s a lot of dark energy under us,” said Lou Ellen.

“Yeah. Don’t try tapping into it. The results could be catastrophic. Possibly apocalyptic.” I walked to the spot where I knew the artifact was buried and drew an X over it with my staff. “The map piece is right under here. Mouse might be able to dig it up.”

“No need.” Nico knelt down and touched the earth. “My sister Hazel is better at this than I am, but there are lots of bones down there, so . . .” He closed his eyes.

I could sense the bones under the earth stir, obeying Nico’s call. The ground itself was resisting, though, holding onto the treasure that had been entrusted to it. I stooped down and touched the ground alongside Nico.

“It’s all right,” I said. “Let go.”

It did. Bones gathered under the Celestial bronze piece and pushed it upward. The ground buckled and ruptured, and a skeleton hand offered the artifact to Nico.

“Thank you,” he said, taking it. I almost expected the skeleton hand to give him a thumbs-up, but it and the other bones simply retreated back to their resting place.

The new piece was larger than the original plate and dotted with black metal, probably the same type that Nico’s sword was made of. It looked like the original plate should fit in a gap on one side, but I couldn’t see how.

Lou Ellen took the plate. “Good, we got it. Can we get out of here now? My willies got the willies.”

We headed back to the boat.


	4. The Son of Hephaestus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will is Not Okay, freshwater sea monsters apparently exist, and Harry finds out he knows a demigod.

Will didn’t look any better when we got back to the boat. In fact, he looked worse.

“He threw up twice while you were up there, poor kid,” Thomas told me as he piloted the boat away from Demonreach. “Why do you think he had such a strong reaction? Even Molly can stand being there, at least for short periods.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. His powers come from a totally different source. It might’ve been just the sheer size of the . . . mind of the place, for lack of a better word, that overwhelmed his senses.”

“Can you help him?” Lou Ellen asked.

I looked out to where Will and Nico were standing and talking quietly, heads together, on the stern. Unfortunately, anything having to do with the mind wasn’t really in my wheelhouse. (Insert your own joke about my mental capacity here.) “I doubt it. My former apprentice, Molly, might be able to, but she’s away right now.”

On the stern, Nico leaned up and kissed Will gently, and the two stood there with their foreheads touching, comforting each other.

“They do seem like a sweet couple,” said Thomas, a smile tugging at his mouth.

Lou Ellen sighed. “Yeah, I see stuff like that and I think it looks so nice, but then I get back to camp and watch people tying themselves in knots over each other, and I end up thanking the gods I’m ace. It just seems like so much work! And people get so distracted. Can’t keep their minds off what they’re seein’.” She looked at Thomas. “I mean, you’re pretty and all, Mr. Raith, but so’s my dad’s Sheltie.” She wandered off.

Thomas looked at me. “Have I just been compared to a Shetland sheepdog?”

“You have.”

“I’m never living this down, am I?”

“Nope.”

“Shit.”

I gave in to a full-fledged laugh. Thomas gave me a dirty look, but finally broke down laughing, too.

He sobered after a minute. “Hey, Harry, I’ve been meaning to ask – how’s Karrin doing?”

My kind-of-a-girlfriend Karrin Murphy had taken a brutal beatdown a few months ago from the most evil man I’d ever met. I hoped I’d be able to return the favor someday.

“She’s still recovering. Making progress, but . . .” I trailed off. It was hard to see Karrin, who’d always been so active and athletic, having to learn to walk all over again.

Thomas nodded in sympathy. “It’s hard to see someone you love in pain.”

I looked back at where Will and Nico stood, holding hands. “Yeah.”

Nico suddenly stiffened, pulled away from Will, looked out over the water, and drew his black sword. Mouse joined him less than a second later. My dog followed Nico’s gaze, then turned his head, looked at me, and gave one short bark. I couldn’t speak Dog, but it sounded an awful lot like “Get your ass down here” to me.

“That can’t be good,” muttered Thomas, pulling out a pair of binoculars. He aimed them in the direction Nico was looking just as something very faint reached my ears. It sounded like dogs barking, or maybe seals. “Yeah, something’s coming. Don’t ask me what.” He grabbed his huge hand-cannon Desert Eagle.

Lou Ellen reached into her pack. “That won’t do much if it’s a Greek monster. Can either of you use a sword? I brought an extra.” With that, she pulled a three-foot bronze sword out of a backpack that clearly couldn’t contain it. Neat trick.

Thomas grabbed it. “Thanks. And I think it’s a ‘they,’ not an ‘it.’”

Will ran up to the cabin. “ _Telekhines_. They’re bad news. They look like human-sea lion hybrids, they’re very strong, they’re very intelligent, they’ve got claws and sharp teeth, there are a lot of them, and they’re coming fast.”

“I thought _telekhines_ were saltwater monsters,” Lou Ellen protested.

For the first time since I’d met him, Will looked irritated. It was probably the headache. “Apparently, there’s a freshwater variety. I don’t know sea monsters! Do I look like Percy Jackson?” He leaned against the doorframe, turning white again.

Thomas killed the motor. “You’d better stay in here, Will. You’re in no shape to fight.”

“Gods, I hate this.” Will pulled off his belt with its bronze throwing knives and dagger and handed it to me. “Watch out for Nico, would you?”

Down on deck, Nico had shucked his jacket and was looking righteously pissed off. I privately doubted he needed any watching out for, but I nodded at Will. Thomas, Lou Ellen and I joined Nico on the deck. I held my staff in one hand and Will’s dagger in the other. Thomas and Nico had their swords, and Lou Ellen had pulled a pink ball out of her bag.

The _telekhines_ were closing in fast. I counted around twenty of them. Their barking was getting louder, they were leaping out of the water like dolphins, they were at about fifty feet, then twenty, then ten . . .

Just as they came into range, Lou Ellen threw her ball. Five of the leaders of the pack turned into very surprised-looking pigs.

“Cool!” I said.

The other _telekhines_ immediately turned on the ones that had been piggified, tearing them apart and eating them, fighting over the bits and pieces. It was fairly gruesome.

“Got more of those?” I asked Lou Ellen.

“Sorry. They take forever to make. I got other tricks, though.”

She couldn’t say more than that, because the _telekhines_ were on us. Nico, Thomas and Mouse tore into them with swords and teeth. I hit the main bulk of them with as much force as I could. It may not have killed them, but from the sounds of it, it sure hurt them, and it disorganized their attack. Lou Ellen pointed at a few with her bronze knife and spoke a few words, and they immediately started to turn on each other.

They started swarming around the ship, trying to get around Thomas and Nico’s swords. Mouse and I ran around the other side. Mouse jumped on one that had just climbed over the side and tore its throat out, his fur limned with blue light. Foo dogs took their power from the threshold they guard, and the Carpenter house had one that rivaled the Great Wall of China. Apparently, it was enough to even take down Ancient Greek sea monsters.

I hit another with the most concentrated fire I could muster. It took the thing’s head clean off. Freezing them wasn’t easy in the sun, but it at least slowed them enough that I could stab them with the dagger Will had given me.

I could see Nico, now on my side, fighting up at the stern. There were fewer and fewer barking sounds. Nico cut through one, reducing it to dust, and then faced one last attacker.

I’d seen the kid move. He was fast, and he was brutal. But for no reason I could see, he hesitated while facing this last one, just long enough that it could swipe at him with its long, knife-sharp claws. Nico deliberately caught the blow on his forearm. The claws raked deep, blood pouring from the wounds. Almost casually, Nico stabbed it, and it disintegrated.

The attack was over. I ran to Nico, who was looking around as if to ensure that there were no more attackers.

“You’re hurt,” I said.

He looked down at the gashes on his arm, curiously disinterested. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

Will came down out of the cabin, his eyes on his boyfriend. “Nico, of all the stupid things to do . . .”

“But it’ll help, won’t it?” Nico asked. He held out his bleeding arm to Will, a shy little smile on his face, as if he were presenting his boyfriend with a gift.

Will took the wounded arm in his hands. “I love you, you lunatic.”

And then I understood. Will had told me that healing helped him purge his mind of “psychic crud” – the overwhelming emotions that built up due to his empathic senses. Nico had deliberately gotten injured in order to give Will a chance to heal him, and to heal his own mind from what stepping on Demonreach had done to it.

Will didn’t sing this time. He just hummed softly, holding Nico’s bloody arm in his glowing hands, as if healing Nico were a familiar routine. The gashes slowly closed, leaving behind only blood.

“You’ll have more scars,” Will told him.

Nico shrugged. “I don’t care. Did it help?”

There was a little color back in Will’s cheeks. “Yeah. I’m definitely not a hundred percent, but it did help. My head’s not trying to give birth to a god anymore, at least.” He looked at Nico. “That was still a dumb thing to do.”

“Yeah, it was.” Nico smirked a little. “But it worked.”

Thomas was watching them, an inscrutable look on his face. “I’m going to get us out of here before more . . . things attack.”

I set a hand on Will’s shoulder as Thomas went and started the engine again. “How are you feeling now?”

He breathed deeply. “You remember how I said I usually have about a week before things get bad?” I nodded. “Before, I was about at the morning of Day 7. Now? Day 5, afternoon. My brain still feels kind of raw. It should be manageable, though, if I don’t get any more big psychic shocks.”

Lou Ellen came over, stuffing the sword Thomas had used back in her bag. “Hey, maybe Mr. Dresden could put you in a circle, the way he did me.”

“That would severely limit my mobility,” said Will. “But if we get a chance to sit still for a while, could it hurt to try?” He looked at me.

I shrugged. “Definitely couldn’t hurt. We can try it. Once we’re back on land, we’ll get some lunch, and then you guys mentioned a son of Hephaestus who could help us with the map?”

Will nodded. “Chiron said he’s a mechanic, and his name is Mike Atagi.”

Mike Atagi? I knew that guy. “What? Mechanic Mike?” I asked.

“You know him?” Nico asked.

“Yeah, he’s the guy who keeps my cars running. He’s a damned miracle worker, and you’re telling me he’s an actual demigod?” I snorted. “That figures.”

“Okay, so, lunch first, and then we visit your mechanic,” said Will. 

“About these telekhines things – you guys think maybe they have something to do with whoever stole your MacGuffin?” I asked.

“Maybe, but it’s hard to say,” said Nico. “Demigods attract monsters. It’s why we rarely quest in groups of more than three. Plus, we have an Underworld artifact with us. That can draw more in.”

“The _telekhines_ could be a coincidence, but I’m fairly sure the _empousai_ weren’t,” Will put in. “For them to attack in numbers like that? Someone had to be driving it. It’s not unusual for _telekhines_ to run in pods, though.”

“In other words, this might just be another day in the life of a demigod?” It sounded a bit like another day in the life of a wizard, to be honest.

Lou Ellen grinned. “Pretty much, yeah.”

***

We offloaded at the marina. I stuck around to talk to Thomas for a minute.

“Well, this certainly made my morning more interesting,” he said. 

“I’m sure it’ll make for an interesting afternoon, if you want to tag along.”

“Not unless you think you’ll need me. I have blood to wash off the deck and dents to bang out of the hull.”

“Well, you are good at banging things.”

“Subtle as always, _mon frere_. And later on, Justine and I have a date.”

“Ah, got it. Things to see, people to do . . .”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “You are constitutionally incapable of giving it a rest, aren’t you? You know who to call if you need backup.”

“I’d have you on my speed dial, if I had speed dial.” I bumped fists with my brother. “See you around.”

I took the kids through the drive-thru at Burger King, buying an extra few burgers for Mouse, and we had a picnic in a nearby park. Will said he felt better in the sunlight. He didn’t look like he was feeling better, though. Nico stared him down until he finally cracked.

“I’m sorry,” Will told him, looking down at the table. “I shouldn’t have pushed you to include me on the quest. I was useless in that fight, and unless my brain gets somehow reset, we have two days, tops, before I become even more of a liability.”

Nico forced Will to look at him. “First of all, I’m fully capable of standing up to you, Will Solace. The only reason I didn’t want to include you was because I didn’t want you to be in danger. The truth is, you’re the strongest healer we have. When I heard that prophecy, I knew it was about you. We’re going to need you. And second, if it does get bad . . . we’ll handle it. We will. Stop beating yourself up.”

Will grinned at him. “Good pep talk, Coach.”

“Shut up and eat, Solace.”

Before he could finish his burger, though, a strange, watery image appeared behind them. It looked like a girl, a redhead about Lou Ellen’s age.

“Iris Message!” said Lou Ellen, pointing. The boys turned around.

“Kayla,” said Will. “What’s happening?”

“A couple of things,” said the girl. “First of all, Rachel’s been going over the prophecy in Ancient Greek, and she says that the ‘winter night’ isn’t a time, it’s a person. It means a knight, as in . . . well, Jedi.”

Will hooked a thumb at me. “Uh, meet Harry Dresden, Winter Knight.”

I waved. “How do!”

Kayla blinked at me. “Okay, so that’s taken care of. Second . . . Piper’s disappeared.”

Nico and Will looked at each other, and Lou Ellen sucked in a breath.

“What do you mean, ‘disappeared’?” Nico asked.

“Just that. She was having a day in the city with a few of her sisters. They said something knocked them all unconscious without warning, and when they came to, Piper was gone. Jason’s going out of his mind.”

“Yeah, I’d imagine,” said Nico. “Do you think it might be related to our quest?”

Kayla nodded. “At least, Rachel does. When we got news of Piper’s disappearance, the Oracle spoke another couplet:

“The house of ice will fall apart  
When sunlight thaws a frozen heart.”

I looked around at the kids. “That mean anything to anybody?”

It didn’t appear to. Nico looked at Will. “There’s sunlight again.”

Will looked at me. “And wintery stuff.”

Nico turned back to Kayla. “We’re going to get the map put together – Dresden knows the son of Hephaestus Chiron told us about – and we’ll see where it leads us. Clovis and I can always touch base when I sleep, so keep him updated. If you can keep him awake long enough.”

“Okay, will do. Take care of each other!” Kayla waved a hand, and the image faded away.

Will balled up his wrappers and scored a perfect basket in a trash can without even trying. Unlike literally every other boy his age would have done, however, he didn’t celebrate. “I can’t say I like the latest plot twist.”

“Who’s this Piper?” I asked.

“She’s a daughter of Aphrodite. She’s brave and kind and a good friend,” said Nico, obviously getting pissed off all over again. “Whoever took her knew what they were doing. Piper has the ability to charmspeak; she can control people and even monsters with her voice. It sounds like she and her sisters were ambushed and knocked unconscious before anyone saw anything. That means the kidnappers knew her abilities. They targeted her.”

“So, someone who’s trying to rewrite fate nabbed a girl with the voice of command?” I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Doesn’t sound good at all,” said Lou Ellen. “I can’t imagine how they could get her to cooperate, though. Piper’s very strong-minded.”

Unfortunately, I could think of at least a dozen increasingly-horrible types who would do increasingly-horrible things to persuade a teenage girl to help them, starting with the White Court and ending with the Denarians. I decided not to mention that to her friends.

We wrapped up our meal and piled into the car to go see Mike. Will was feeling sorry for Mouse, and he insisted they could fit my enormous slobber-beast in the back with them. Nico ended up sitting, fuming, in his boyfriend’s lap while Mouse panted over my shoulder. I was pretty sure everybody was glad to get out of the car when we reached Mike’s garage.

Mike was a short, sturdily-built guy with dark hair, dark eyes and weathered, light brown skin who looked like he lived in his dark-blue coveralls. He spotted me as we pulled in, wiped his hands on a rag, and gave me a wave.

“Harry! Don’t tell me your new car broke down already,” he called. Then he spotted Will, with his bright orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, and froze.

“Mike, buddy, you’ve been holding out on me,” I said, and lowered my voice as we got closer. “You never told me you’re a demigod.”

Mike glanced at me. “Well, in all fairness, you never told me you’re a wizard, but I figured that one out on my own. That t-shirt’s quite a blast from the past, kid. Son of Apollo, right?”

Will stuck out his hand. “Will Solace, and yes, I am. This is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades; and Lou Ellen Castillo, daughter of Hecate.”

Mike shook all their hands. “Three of you means you’re on a quest, right?”

“Chiron said you’d be able to help us put something together,” said Nico.

“Nice words from the centaur. My private workshop’s in the back. Gimme a sec. Rodrigo!” Mike called to one of his workmen. The two spoke back and forth in Spanish a couple of times, and Rodrigo waved and went back to work. “Okay, he’ll handle things here. C’mon.”

Mike’s workshop was like a different world. There were some ordinary things, like racks of tools and boxes of various kinds of bric-a-brac, but there was also an actual forge and books in Ancient Greek. As he fired it up and the light reflected off his face, I thought I could see his father in him.

“Let’s see what you’ve got,” he said. Nico produced both pieces of the map. Mike took them and examined them closely for a few minutes. “Huh. Well, I can see what I need to do, I think. Let me check.”

He opened a cabinet, and sitting inside was something that looked like a steampunk TV. When he turned it on, it made the kind of sound you’d expect from "futuristic" technology on _The Twilight Zone_. Mike typed a few commands into a keyboard. The monitor fuzzed. Mike gave me a look.

“I need the magic users to go away. The dog, too, unless you like the smell of singed fur. Hades kid, I need you here; this thing has Stygian iron in it, and it’s a touchy metal. Apollo kid, I don’t care what you do.”

“Is it going to get loud in here, by any chance?” Will asked.

“I wouldn’t bet against it.”

Will left with Lou Ellen and me. We wandered back over to where I’d parked my car.

“Head still hurting, Will?” I asked. He nodded. “Let’s experiment.”

I drew a circle on the blacktop around Will and brought it up. He visibly relaxed.

“That’s actually a lot better,” he said. “It doesn’t block everything out, but it definitely damps down the noise. If we have to stay another night, maybe I could sleep in a circle like this. I’m sure it would help me keep my head together.”

“Props to Miz Lou for the idea,” I said. She high-fived me.

After about an hour, Nico came out and fetched us. Inside, Mike had attached the pieces so the larger one had been folded into a triptych and the smaller one slotted into the top of the middle third.

“That should work for you now,” said Mike. His steampunk TV was showing a similar shape. It fuzzed again, and he switched it off. “Of course, you’ll have to wait for the witching hour to get a read on it.”

Three in the morning. I resigned myself to another late night and made plans to run over to the Carpenters’ place to see Maggie again.

“Lou Ellen and I should be able to make it work,” said Nico. “Thanks, Mike.”

Mike shook his hand. “Hey, no sweat. I was never a very powerful son of Hephaestus. Feels good to help save the world for once.”

I laughed again. “I just can’t believe it. I never suspected you were anything other than a vanilla mortal. Looking back, keeping my dear, late Blue Beetle running could only have been the work of a demigod.”

“It was definitely a challenge worthy of my forge,” said Mike.

“Haven’t you ever had any problems with monsters, though?” asked Lou Ellen.

“Oh, occasionally. Harry here did me a solid by whacking a _dracaena_ once. You remember that snaky thing you beat down behind the garage once, Harry?”

I did. “Yeah. You know, I’m beginning to feel like a vanilla mortal myself. All these things have been going on around me, and I never suspected a thing.”

“Aside from killing a _dracaena_ ,” Will pointed out.

“Well, yeah, aside from that. What do you do when your favorite wizard isn’t around, Mike?”

Mike opened a drawer in one of his tool cabinets and pulled out a box of what turned out to be Celestial bronze bullets. “They work.”

Will looked at them. “That’s just plain awesome.”

Mike looked thoughtful. “What are you packing these days, Harry?”

I showed him my gun. He looked it over and pulled out another small box of bullets that would fit it. “That should do ya. Gratis, for helping out demigods. I’ve also got some silver ones in case you ever have more trouble with werewolves.”

I took the bronze bullets. “Made from inherited silver?”

“You know it.”

“Inherited?” Nico asked.

“Makes a difference with some kinds of werewolf,” I said.

“I’ve only ever met the Ancient Greek variety.” Nico pulled up his sleeve, revealing some ugly scars on his right shoulder. “These are from when I killed Lycaon.”

Lycaon, if I remembered my mythology correctly, was the Ancient Greek king of the werewolves. I raised my eyebrows. “I am duly impressed.”

Will grinned smugly. “That’s my special guy.”

Nico rolled his eyes, but I could see him smothering a smile.

I shook Mike’s hand. “Thanks, man. You ever need help with more Greek monsters, give me a call.”

“Thanks, man. Good luck, you guys.” Mike shook hands with the kids. “Say hello to Chiron for me.”

The kids and I went back to my apartment, where we finished off the leftover pizza and most of the other stuff in my fridge. (Teenage. Boys.)

“Will, you look thrashed,” I said. “We’ve still got hours until it’s time to go. Why don’t I make a circle, and you try to get some sleep?”

“Good idea,” said Nico. I was starting to get the feeling the mother-henning didn’t go just one way in their relationship.

Will nodded wearily. “Yeah, it is. Thanks, Harry.”

I took up one of the rugs, and Will made a nest of couch cushions and blankets on the floor. It soon became obvious that Nico was planning to join him.

“I could use a nap, too,” said the son of Hades. “Besides, I might be able to say hi to Clovis while I’m out.”

“Or the circle could keep you in, if you’re talking about dream-traveling,” I pointed out.

Nico shrugged. “Whatever. It’s not like I’d have a lot to report, anyway.”

I drew the circle and activated it once both boys were inside. “I’m going out for a while. If you end up breaking the circle, you can redraw it.” I placed the chalk right outside the circle. “Put a drop of blood on it and visualize a barrier coming up. It just takes an effort of will. Er, small-w will, not big-w Will. Nico could do it, too.”

Will laughed. “Got it. Thanks, Harry.”

I went over to the Carpenter house to put Maggie to bed and update Michael and Charity on the situation. I hoped things would be back to whatever passed for normal in my life soon so I could have my daughter back with me.

Back at my apartment, Lou Ellen was napping in Molly’s room, and Nico and Will were spooned up, asleep, in the circle. I decided I could stand to catch a few Zs, too. I set my alarm for the witching hour and went to bed, hoping for a few hours of peace.

Yeah, that didn’t work out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Face it, Mechanic Mike being a demigod is the only way Harry's life makes sense.


	5. Winter Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mab drops in for a chat, Harry finds a Way, Apollo drops in for a chat, and Lou Ellen happens.

I was standing on an ice field in the reflected light of Jupiter.

“This is interesting,” I said.

“It is, actually.” 

The voice, which I knew well, came from behind me. I turned around. “Hey, Molly. How’s it going?”

“Enlighteningly. I don’t actually know if that’s a word, but you get the point,” she said. “There’s life on Europa. Alert Neil DeGrasse Tyson.”

I grinned at her. “Sure, no problem. I’ll tell him next time I run to him at a cocktail party.”

Molly looked at Jupiter. The Great Red Spot seemed to be staring at us. “You can’t beat the view here. How are things going on Earth?”

“Well, it’s a little ironic that I’m looking at Jupiter, considering I’m hosting Greek demigods.” Molly raised her eyebrows, and I told her about my recent adventures. “Anyway, we’re going to see where this map leads. All the wintery imagery in the prophecy makes me think I’m going to be needed.”

“Did you think it a coincidence that you found the godlings, my knight?”

The voice was icy, precise, and seemed to hit me in every cell of my body at once. Molly and I both turned to behold Mab, Queen of the Winter Court of the Fae. As cold as the ice fields of Europa were, she was colder still.

Molly had looked like herself until that moment, her hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing practical work clothes. At Mab’s appearance, though, her veneer of humanity was washed away. Her ears became pointed, her pupils vertical and slitted like a cat’s, and formal robes draped around her body.

“Greetings, my daughter,” said Mab.

Molly closed her eyes. Her appearance returned to that of the Molly I knew. When her eyes opened again, her pupils were round. “My mother is Charity Carpenter,” she said.

Mab smiled the smile of someone who knew it was only a matter of time until she won. My own helplessness overwhelmed me. Molly still had a core of humanity to her, but for how much longer? Her predecessor, Maeve, had been a monster. According to everyone who knew, Molly was doomed to become one, too.

And so was I.

But not without fighting as long and as hard as I could.

At times like this, my brain always reset to “maximum annoyance.” “Mab. Nice to see you! Whassup?”

Mab focused her Aurora Borealis eyes on me. “I would prepare you for the battle you are about to enter, my knight. There is one who seeks to seize power over all of winter, including the Winter Court. This cannot happen.”

For some reason, I wasn’t surprised at all. “You know who’s behind this.”

“Indeed. As does the Underworld Prince.”

“What do I know?” asked Nico’s voice. He was suddenly standing near us, wearing his black sword and not looking surprised at all to have wandered into my dream. 

Or, rather, having been pulled there. My magic circle was no match for Mab’s power.

Mab inclined her head to him. “Prince Nico, we are honored by your presence.” There was nothing mocking in her voice. Considering Nico’s father was the type of Power that could even challenge Mab, it made sense.

Nico bowed to her, an almost courtly gesture I wouldn’t have expected from a Goth kid. Only here, he wasn’t. He was his father’s son, with authority rooted in the Underworld. “The honor is mine, Queen Mab. You pulled me here. Why?”

“Because you can enlighten my knight as to whom you hunt. She has crossed your path before, though you did not combat her. Your friend, however, did.”

For a moment, Nico stood immobile. Then understanding crossed his face, and he cursed in Ancient Greek. “Of course,” he said. He looked at me. “I was thinking someone took Piper in order to use her power. But that’s not it, is it?” He glanced at Mab, who nodded fractionally. “It’s about revenge. Piper once beat and humiliated Khione, the Greek goddess of snow. Forced her to disincarnate and took one of the her brothers’ swords as a war trophy. Khione sided with Gaea against the gods – and her own father – in the last war. I’d guess she’s not very popular on Olympus about now. And now that that she’s trying to alter her fate, she’s kidnapped Piper to make her see it.” Nico looked like he was about to start stabbing things. I didn’t blame him.

Since becoming a part of the Winter Court, I’d learned a lot about various winter mythologies around the globe. Khione was a minor goddess, daughter of Boreas, the North Wind. Minor, yes, but still a goddess.

“You are correct, my knight,” said Mab, following my thoughts. I hated it when she did that. “She is a minor figure in her pantheon, but she still has great power. She could challenge even the Winter Lady.”

“So, why not let me smack her down?” asked Molly.

“Because the die has been cast. The Olympians have decreed that this is a matter for mortals. Even I cannot change that. They have sent their offspring, and I have sent my knight.” Mab strode closer to me. I wanted to back away, but couldn’t. “Whoever uses the Spindle will infuse her weaving with her own power. Were she mortal, Khione could only weave a mortal fate. As a goddess, however, she can weave a god’s fate. She could usurp far more than just her father’s throne.”

“She could usurp Zeus,” said Nico.

“Yes. And such power in a snow goddess would alter the balance of power in the Winter Court. Already, Khione has been recruiting allies among winter kind,” Mab sneered. “She would challenge even the Winter Queens. I will not have it. You will assist the godlings in their quest, my knight. You will help them to retrieve the Spindle and return it to the Underworld. Do what you must. These are my orders.”

I looked over at Nico. “I was already planning on it.”

Nico nodded at me. “Good. We’ll need you. I’m going to wake up now.” He disappeared.

“An excellent decision,” said Mab. “Wake, my knight. Wake, and enter battle for me.”

***

I woke up. It was a few minutes until 3:00 am. Outside my door, I could hear the low murmur of voices. Mouse raised his head from where he’d been sleeping on my floor. I turned off my alarm and left my room, dogasaurus in tow. Nico and Will were stirring. I poked my head into Molly’s room.

“Wake up, Lou Ellen. It’s go time.”

She muttered something indistinct and threw back her blankets. I went into the kitchen and started brewing some strong coffee.

“So, you met my boss,” I said to Nico as he scrubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“She’s actually scarier than my stepmother,” said Nico. “I wasn’t sure that was possible.”

I looked over at Nico’s boyfriend. “Will, how you doing?”

He nodded. “Pretty good. Nico says you two didn’t exactly have a relaxing sleep, though.”

“No. Meeting up with the Winter Queen is never exactly fun. I can’t say I’m surprised to find out she’s involved, though.”

“What’s goin’ on?” Lou Ellen asked, coming out of Molly’s room.

I summed up the encounter with Mab for her. “I’m kind of thinking we should dress warmly.”

Lou Ellen sighed and fetched a pair of blue jeans from her bag. They were embroidered all over with flowers and peace symbols. She took them into the bathroom with her. I grabbed a couple of winter jackets out of the hall closet for the kids.

“No need to get one for me,” said Nico, pulling on his bomber jacket. “I don’t feel cold very much, anyway.”

“I sure as hell do,” Will groused. “Being a son of Apollo means early to bed, early to rise, and winter is just not your season.” He grabbed one of the jackets.

The kids and I had a quick breakfast of cereal and coffee, and then we consulted the map. Nico looked it over, and then he placed the tips of his fingers against the Stygian iron dots in the larger piece. Pictures started to form in the smaller, inset piece. The sides of the triptych seemed to reflect them, and the thing turned into a holographic projector.

What it was showing was a model of North America. It zoomed in. I kind of expected it to center on Chicago, but instead, it went north, to Canada. It zoomed in further, and an ice palace appeared with Greek lettering under it.

“Hotel du Glace, Quebec City, Quebec,” Will translated for the Greek-impaired. “Looks like we’ve got another long journey ahead of us.”

“Not necessarily,” I said. I took my pentagram necklace out of my shirt and held the gem in the center between my fingers, and I listened to my mother’s voice.

My mother was not exactly a typical wizard. She spent so much time in the Nevernever, the world that exists beyond the veil of mortal reality, that she earned the nickname Margaret le Fey. She was brilliant and headstrong and gave the White Council all kinds of headaches. And she died giving birth to me. She left me three things: my brother, my necklace, and her knowledge of the Ways through the Nevernever.

Every part of the Nevernever was connected to a point on Earth. The distances between them on Earth meant nothing in the Nevernever, and the same went in reverse. You could enter Chicago’s Undertown, step into the Nevernever, walk ten feet, and emerge in a Tokyo subway tunnel. No one alive knew where all the Ways go.

But my mother did. She left that knowledge to me in the form of a single gem. And listening to her voice, I found our Way.

“Lock and load, everyone,” I told the kids. “It’s time to go to the Winter Wonderland.”

***  
I took the demigods and Mouse to the Navy Pier, where Chicago’s Winter Wonderland took place each year. There was no trace of it in late summer, of course, but it was a good entry point to get where we needed to go.

I turned to face the kids. “A few cautions before we go. First, the Nevernever does not operate according to the rules of this planet, and that includes little things like the laws of physics. Time doesn’t even run the same. I don’t know how it’ll affect any of you. Second, while Celestial bronze might be the way to face any of the beasties in Greek mythology, I don’t know how it’ll work there. Cold iron is your best bet against all things Faerie. Nico, I’m willing to bet that sword of yours will work just dandy. Finally, while we may have Mab’s blessing to take down Khione, the Winter Court as a whole gets along about as well as a bag of cats. There could be trouble. Be on guard.”

Nico didn’t need to be told twice. He drew his sword. “Let’s go.”

I concentrated, felt the barrier between worlds. “ _Aparturum_ ,” I breathed, and the Way opened.

“That’s fairly cool,” said Lou Ellen.

I grinned at Will. “Will, there’s a Way.”

Will groaned. “That was a complete Dad joke.”

“I’m a dad. It’s what we do.” I shook out my shield bracelet and readied my staff. My blasting rod was in its holder inside my coat, and I carried two guns, one with steel-jacketed rounds for Fae, and one with Mike’s Celestial bronze bullets. Being prepared wasn’t only for Boy Scouts. “Stay close.”

We entered the Way, and a blast of Arctic air greeted us. I heard Will swear behind me. I took a look behind me to make sure the kids were all okay.

Will stumbled, and Nico reached out to steady him. “What’s wrong?”

“I – I can’t feel the sun,” said Will. “It all feels wrong. Like up is down.” He shook his head, looking pale. “I’ll be okay. Do we have far to go, Harry?” 

I was distracted by something else. Nico’s sword . . . it had given me pause in outside the Nevernever, but inside? It was terrifying. It was like it had its own gravitational field. Light distorted around it. Cold iron was deadly to the Fae, and iron didn’t get any colder than Stygian. It made my skin crawl under the Winter Knight’s mantle. It wasn’t welcome here.

Best to keep moving, then.

“It’s not far. Less than half a mile. Lou, Nico, how are you?” I asked.

Lou Ellen’s fingers fizzed and sparked. “I kinda feel like I just had forty cups of coffee. This ain’t Hecate’s kind of magic, but wow.”

Nico nodded at me. “I’m fine. My sword feels heavy, though. Let’s keep moving.”

He ushered Will in front of him so I was leading and Nico brought up the back. We walked along the path my mother’s gem had told me to take. In the distance, I could see a dark castle brooding over the landscape.

“Wh-what is that?” Lou Ellen asked, teeth chattering.

“Arctis Tor, citadel of the Winter Queen,” I said. “We’re not going there.”

None of the kids looked disappointed.

Luckily, our trip was uneventful. I caught glimpses of things in the shadows, but they stayed away. Probably scared of Nico’s sword.

When we reached the exit point, I opened the portal, and we stepped out into bright sunlight. The trip through the Way hadn’t taken us more than ten minutes, but it was high morning in Quebec City. Time ran differently in Faerie.

Someone was waiting for us. He was a tall, handsome blond who looked like the lost Hemsworth, and he was holding a longbow and wearing a quiver on one hip and a bronze ukulele on the other.

“Dad?” said Will.

“My son,” said Apollo.

Holy crap.

I bowed. “Lord Apollo.”

He seemed to accept my bow and greeting as acceptable. “Greetings, Sir Harry, Winter Knight. My uncle has spoken positively of you to me. Hello, Nico di Angelo. I trust you are well?” Apollo’s voice was warm and musical, something you’d expect to hear from an actor.

“My father’s spoken to you?” Nico asked.

“Of course. Our sons are in a relationship, after all.”

Will and Nico looked at each other, dread in their expressions. It was kind of refreshing, in a way. Demigods they might have been, but teenage parental angst was apparently universal.

Mouse trotted up to Apollo and made a little noise in his throat.

Apollo smiled down at him. Will had a different mouth – maybe because of his mother, I don’t know – but they still had the same smile.

“I’m afraid I can’t offer my aid in that way, sir,” said the sun god. “This quest was begun by mortals, and by mortals it must be completed.” Apollo looked at me. “And there are political considerations. I maintain friendly relations with the Summer Court. I cannot be seen to help the Winter Knight in any way.”

“So, why are you here?” Will asked, approaching his father. His posture was respectful, but not afraid.

“I cannot aid your quest. Not in any way,” Apollo reemphasized. His eyes sparkled. Literally, they sparkled. “But no one could criticize me for blessing my son before he goes into battle.”

Apollo placed one hand on Will’s face. “Will, I want you to know how proud I am of you. The Gift of Asclepius is not an easy one to bear, and I fear it has caused you great pain. Yet you carry on with grace, as you always have.” The sun god kissed his son’s forehead. A gentle glow enveloped them both, and when Apollo stepped back, it remained on Will. “You will, I think, find your weapons rather more effective against winter kind now. Coincidentally, of course.” He winked at me.

Will looked at the glow around his hands. “Thanks, Dad. And . . . yeah, it does hurt sometimes, but I’m happy with who I am and what my gift has made me.”

“I know.” Apollo looked over at the rest of us. “Nico, remember your father’s crown. Farewell, and may your quest be successful.”

Apollo became a bright sunbeam, and then he was gone, leaving the rest of us blinking spots out of our vision. Will continued to glow. Nico walked over to him and touched one of his hands.

“You’re hot,” said Nico.

Will gave him a saucy smirk. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.”

Nico groaned. “Don’t.”

“Will, what was your father talking about?” I asked. “The Gift of Asclepius?”

“That’s my ability to sense injuries and illnesses,” Will explained. “Asclepius doesn’t even have to touch you to do it. But it comes with empathy. The stronger the gift, the more pain you feel from others. It’s what drove Asclepius to become the greatest healer ever, to the point that he could conquer death.”

“Which drove Zeus to kill him and your dad to lobby for him to become the god of healers,” put in Nico, always the bright spot on a cloudy day.

“Nico, do you know what he meant about your father’s crown?” I asked.

Nico shook his head. “Not a clue.”

“Well, this has all been very interesting,” said Lou Ellen, “but personally? I think we should be checking that out.” She pointed.

In the distance, there was a grayish blur, like a heavy fog. It was out of place on a bright summer day. “Yeah,” I said. “I think that would be a good idea.”

We walked toward it, and it slowly began to resolve into the Hotel du Glace. Like the Winter Wonderland in Chicago, the Hotel du Glace was a seasonal attraction. It was a hotel made entirely of ice; by definition, it could only exist as long as temperatures were low enough to sustain it. Yet there it was, on a hot August day.

A heavy cloud hung over the ice hotel, snow falling from it, and freezing whirlwinds surrounded it. I could feel the magic, the energy, growing stronger as we approached.

“The whirlwinds are _anemoi thuellai_ ,” said Nico. “ _Venti_ , in Latin. Normally, Aeolus keeps them locked away.”

Will nocked an arrow. “Looks like Khione freed a few. They’re tough to kill, even with Celestial bronze.”

“Looks like they’re maintaining the ice,” said Lou Ellen. “Maybe they won’t be in a mood to fight?”

“I’ve just never been that lucky,” I said.

Sure enough, when we got closer, one of them darted out at us. Will put an arrow through it. Whatever blessing Apollo had given him worked; the whirlwind fell apart in a gush of rain.

Will grinned. “Nice!”

After that display, the rest of the _venti_ left us alone as we reached the hotel doors. They were closed.

“Should we knock?” Lou Ellen wondered aloud.

“Good idea. _Forzare!_ ” I hit the doors with enough force to shatter them.

“Aren’t wizards supposed to be subtle?” Will asked.

“I tried subtle once. Didn’t like it.” I hefted my staff. “Let’s go talk to the goddess.”

I’d never actually been to the Hotel du Glace, so I wasn’t sure if the palatial lobby was usually part of the deal. It bore more than a passing resemblance to the entrance to Arctis Tor, which I was willing to bet was no coincidence.

Ahead of us was a grand staircase. Khione stood at the top.

I didn’t have to be told who she was. She had the same power of presence that I’d just felt with Apollo, but taken in the opposite direction. Like Mab, she radiated cold. She was beautiful, too, with black curls cascading down her back and surprisingly dark eyes.

“Well, well, well,” she said as we entered. “If it isn’t the gods’ little pets and Queen Mab’s attack dog. How cute.”

With that, she sent a blast of frozen air at me. I caught most of it on my shield bracelet. The rest wasn’t any worse than I’d ever felt at Arctis Tor.

When the fog cleared, Khione looked surprised I was still standing.

“Lady, I’ve been frozen by colder bitches than you,” I told her.

“Where’s Piper?” Nico demanded.

Khione gave him a cruel smile. “That insolent brat is going to be a decoration in my throne room. Don’t worry; I’ll let her out occasionally so my brother can play with her.”

Two male figures joined her. One looked like a hockey meathead. The other looked like a fashion victim who’d gotten stuck in the ‘80s.

“Dude, what’s with the mullet?” I asked.

He shook his hair out. “Eet ees mah seegnature style.”

Hell’s bells, his French accent was worse than my brother’s.

“Shut up, Zethes,” snapped Khione.

“Hockey?” asked the meathead.

“You too, Calais. They don’t need to witness your idiocy.” Khione turned those dark, cold eyes on me. “I’ll make you an deal, Winter Knight: Leave now, and I’ll allow you to live. The demigods won’t get the same offer.”

She was making a good effort, but frankly, Mab was scary on a whole other level. “Let’s see, let me think – no. I’ll make you a counter-offer, though: Give us the Spindle, and I won’t knock down your little snow fort.”

Khione sneered. “My weaving is almost finished. When it’s done, Olympus will bow to me. So will the Winter Queen. I will punish those who stand against me . . . and reward those who stand with me.”

That was when her friends showed up. I recognized them. Goblins, snow ogres, Sidhe who had been part of Maeve’s retinue and lost their status under Molly. Not very many; I guessed most were too afraid of Mab to openly defy her. But there were a few nasty customers. They’d thrown in with the new player. There were also some monsters I couldn’t identify, possibly Greek, and a _ventus_ or two.

I could feel the kids bracing for battle. Lou Ellen reached into her bag, murmuring a spell under her breath. Nico raised his sword. Will, standing in a puddle of slush, put arrow to string.

A snow ogre moved first, and the battle was joined. I saw Nico slash through a the ogre, the Stygian iron of his sword reducing it to ashes. Will took out two goblins in quick succession. I froze a couple of Sidhe and shattered them with force.

And then Lou Ellen happened.

“Kiss the floor, boys!” she shouted. We all obeyed. I looked up to see her holding a torch burning with green flame. Lou Ellen took a deep breath, blew across the fire, and hosed the room.

Whatever was in those flames was effective against pretty much everything. A snow ogre burned to a crisp. The _venti_ dissipated. A couple of Sidhe were lucky enough to nope out of there when they saw what was happening. In seconds, there was nothing but a melting foyer and the smoking remnants of Khione’s friends. An ice chandelier crashed to the ground.

Lou Ellen looked around proudly. “Little present from my mom. It’s only got one charge, unfortunately.”

“You haven’t won,” Khione snarled from the top of the stairs, which were in fairly bad shape. She held up a small bottle. “I was hoping to recruit you, Dresden, but now? You’re dead. I’ve found some new toys in my travels since being exiled from my father’s palace.”

She threw down the bottle. Smoke erupted from it.

No, not smoke. Pure, inky blackness. I’d seen its kind only once before, and it had taken the entire Senior Council, the most powerful wizards on the planet, to contain it.

It was a mistfiend, pure mordite, a substance that could disintegrate flesh with a touch.

“Behind me!” I shouted, throwing up my strongest shield. I interposed myself between it and Lou Ellen and reached out with my senses, trying to figure out how to fight the thing without getting myself killed.

It hit my shield with a force that knocked the breath out of me. Nico and Will were still out there, still vulnerable.

There comes a moment when you know you’re beaten. However Khione had gotten ahold of this thing didn’t matter. It was too strong, too alien for me. I readied my death curse, hoping it would be enough to maybe give the kids a chance to escape.

Then it made the mistake of striking at Will. His sunshine aura seemed to protect him, at least temporarily, but more importantly, the thing had made an attempt on Nico’s boyfriend’s life. The son of Hades lunged for the mistfiend with a scream of rage.

“Don’t touch it!” I yelled.

Too late. Nico’s sword stabbed into the blackness. The mistfiend writhed, eerily silent, as it was slowly sucked into the blade.

And not just the blade. Shadows traveled up Nico’s arms, under his skin. Into his eyes. They went pure black, his skin dead white with veins of darkness. And around his head . . .

I suddenly understood what Apollo had meant about Nico’s father’s crown. When I first met Hades, he was wearing a crown of mordite. And now, Nico wore one as well. He looked utterly inhuman.

“Nico?” Will’s voice was soft, frightened.

When Nico spoke, his voice echoed oddly. “How interesting.”


	6. The House of Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Harry discuss something Will is not happy about, Khione makes her play, and it all ends in slush.

Will took a step toward Nico, reaching out with one hand.

I shook off my shock. “Will, no! Don’t touch him!”

Will hesitated, looking between his boyfriend and me. Beside me, Mouse growled so deep I could feel it through the ice floor, the fur on his back rising.

“He’s right, Will.” Nico sounded utterly calm. “It would be very dangerous for any living being to touch me right now.” He examined his sword, and the willies it had given me in the Nevernever multiplied exponentially. It didn’t cast a shadow because it _was_ a shadow. Darkness danced around it.

_Shadow sword . . ._

“Nico, tell me what’s happening.” Will was making what must have been a heroic effort to not freak out.

“I have control over the mistfiend. For now.” Nico’s inky black eyes found me. “Dresden, please have the gun with Celestial bronze bullets ready.”

I had a bad, bad feeling about the request, but I drew my gun and double-checked the ammo.

Will glanced between us again. “Why?”

Nico spoke with that same, eerie calm. “If I lose control, I can still drag the mistfiend to the Underworld. But I need someone to send me there. Dresden will do what’s necessary.”

“What?” Will physically stepped between the two of us and drew one of his throwing knives. “What? No! Harry, put that away. Now.”

“Will.” Nico’s voice, though it still resonated in that unnerving way, warmed a little. “I need to know someone will stop me if it comes to that. This creature could kill all of you. I can’t let that happen. Trust me.”

“Then send it away now,” Will begged. “Can’t you?”

“I could, but we need it. Destroying the weaving of Fate is no easy matter. This is the shadow sword that will unravel Khione’s weaving.” Nico held up his blade. “I do what’s necessary, Will. You know that better than anyone.” He looked at me. “Swear to me that you’ll kill me if you have to, Dresden.”

Tears shimmered on Will’s face under his father’s blessing. I returned Nico’s gaze, and I remembered what Hades had said to me during my soulgaze with his son.

_“During this quest, my son will make a request of you, one that you will resist agreeing to. It is imperative that you do, however.”_

“I swear, on my own power, that I will kill you if it’s the only way to keep the mistfiend from escaping,” I said. “I’m sorry, Will, but he’s right. I can’t fight that thing if it gets loose, and it could kill untold numbers.”

I looked at the boys. Will glowed with sunlight, the ice melting under his feet. Shadows wreathed Nico, and frost spread over the ice around him. There was a strange beauty in their contrast.

“Nico . . .” Will made a helpless gesture. “I love you.”

There was magic in those words. I could feel the power of them.

Nico’s shadowed face softened. “That’s why I can do this.”

Lou Ellen cleared her throat, startling all of us. “Um, boys? We need to find Khione. Can your dog follow her, Mr. Dresden?”

Mouse huffed, apparently insulted by the very idea that he couldn’t. He trotted to the stairs and looked back expectantly at me.

“Let’s move,” I said, and re-froze the steps with a word. Lou Ellen followed me, but then turned back, took Will’s arm, and pulled him, gently but firmly, up the stairs with her. Nico followed at a distance from all of us.

Mouse led us through the halls of ice, lit with blue light. It was all very tasteful, slightly Art Deco. I had the feeling Khione hadn’t let her brothers help with the décor.

Finally, at the end of a long, wide corridor, the doors opened to Khione’s hideaway. It was the size of a ballroom and looked like someone’s stereotypical idea of a Greek temple, only carved in ice. 

Dominating the far end of the room was Khione’s weaving. It was an enormous tapestry on a loom, depicting what I assumed was Mount Olympus, with all the gods bowing down to you-know-who on a big, big throne. Subtle. The Spindle of Necessity was beside the loom, connected to the tapestry with shimmering threads. It was a small thing, but the aura of power around it was overwhelming.

“You’re full of surprises, Sir Knight,” came Khione’s mocking voice, echoing around the room. “I don’t know how you managed to get away from the mistfiend, but it doesn’t matter. My weaving is finished. All I have to do is cut it loose, and I will be Queen of Olympus. Those who have mocked and derided me will be under my feet.”

“So much bitterness. Let it go, Elsa. Let it go,” I said.

“Harry, that was awful,” muttered Will.

“My kid loves that movie. Don’t judge me.”

“Harry Dresden. Always so amusing,” came another voice. A gorgeous Sidhe woman in a green dress stepped out from behind a column. “It’s been so long. We really must catch up.”

I knew her, and I was not pleased to see her. “Jenny Greenteeth,” I said. “Last time I saw you, you were playing chew toy to a bunch of werewolves.”

She snarled, baring her, guess what, green teeth. I couldn’t see any scars, but she was probably casting a glamour that hid them. Regardless, she didn’t appear to have fond memories of that occasion.

“You’re a symptom of what’s gone wrong with the Winter Court. You and that human child Mab has taken as her own,” said Jenny. “Khione will restore us to our proper splendor, and I will be at her side as she rules.”

Jenny had been a powerful figure in the Winter Court back when she and Maeve had been BFFs. My guess was that Molly hadn’t exactly taken to her. It certainly explained why Jenny had glommed onto Khione. The Greek goddess and the former Winter Lady had similar personalities: Ambitious, cruel, petty as hell, and way too much up her own ass to take care of her responsibilities.

“Watch out for her,” I murmured to the kids. “She’s strong and fast and has some pretty powerful magic going for her. She’ll try to drown you if she can. It’s her thing.”

I caught a glimpse of Khione’s tragic-looking brothers between the columns as the kids and I moved slowly into the room. Jenny sidled a little closer.

“Perhaps I could be persuaded to think more kindly of you, Harry. What’s this you’ve you brought me? A pretty, sunny boy.” She ran a hand down her curves, flashing her green smile at Will. “Do you like what you see, pretty, sunny boy?”

“I’m gay,” Will snapped. He wasn’t having a good day. Judging by the sudden blast of even more intense cold from behind me, Nico didn’t think much of Jenny hitting on his boyfriend, either.

A sudden flurry in the middle of the room resolved into Khione. “Dresden and the males must die, but Daughter of Hecate, we don’t have to fight. I was willing to deal with your sisters, the _empousai_. Join me, and you will have a place in my court.” 

As if to emphasize her words, four _empousai_ strode out from behind the tapestry. The ice floor, unfortunately, was just textured enough that they didn’t slip and slide, the way they had back in the warehouse when all this began. Damn, that was funny.

“The _empousai_ are your sisters?” I asked Lou Ellen out of the side of my mouth.

“Hecate spawned 'em, yeah. Hey, every family has the ones you don’t talk about.” Lou Ellen suddenly sucked in a breath. “Piper!”

I followed her gaze. Just coming into view through the columns was the figure of a young woman, perhaps eighteen. She was tall and lovely and dark-haired, and she was completely frozen within a cocoon of ice. Will gasped from my other side.

Zethes, god of bad hairstyles, oozed out of the shadows and caressed the unfortunate girlsicle. “Mah sistair has promised ‘er to me.”

“A fitting punishment for what she did to me,” said Khione.

“Piper’s boyfriend built you a shrine, you ungrateful bitch! Ooh, I’m fit to be tied now!” Lou grabbed a wand and a ball of something from her bag. “I’m goin’ in, boys!”

She flung the ball at Khione, who dissolved into another flurry as it hit the ground in front of her and exploded. Whatever had been in it melted a hole in the floor.

Nico spoke up from behind me. “I need to get close enough to destroy that tapestry.”

“Call me a diversion. _Forzare!_ ” I blew up a column, flushing out Calais.

It all got a bit messy after that. I heard Will shooting arrows, and at one point, I was sure I heard some French swearing. I lost track of Lou Ellen entirely.

Nico was another story. After one look at his sword, Jenny decided she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. She went after me, instead. I vaguely saw Nico engage one of the _empousai_ , whose undead status seemed to protect them from the mistfiend Nico was hosting, before I was forced to turn my entire attention to Jenny.

I was a chivalrous kind of guy, but that didn’t apply to deadly Sidhe women who had tried to kill my friends in the past. I hit the ceiling with enough force to bring down some big ice blocks on her, which she didn’t appreciate. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to follow up on account of a hockey puck hitting me with the force of a shotgun.

Not exaggerating at all. I’d been hit with shotgun blasts and survived them only because of the spells on my coat. This hockey puck hit every bit as hard. I was going to have one very bruised shoulder, and I knew I was lucky it hadn’t hit me in the head. Not even I was thick-skulled enough to survive that.

“Hockey!” bellowed Calais.

On the other hand, he just might have been. So I shot him. It wasn’t as good a shot as I’d have wanted, but it hit him in one meaty shoulder, spattering golden ichor. He roared in pain. I lined up another shot.

That was when Jenny hit me from the back. One of Will’s arrows had melted a slush puddle in the floor, and Jenny, true to form, tried to force my face into it.

Mouse roared and tackled her from the side. Jenny started cussing and clawed at him. He clawed her back.

I didn’t have time to watch them any further because Calais was coming at me again. I barely caught his hockey stick on my staff and deployed one of my kinetic runes, blowing him across the room. He brought down another column.

As he was struggling to get up, Will hit him with an arrow, dead center. He burst into snow.

“No! Calais!” Khione screamed. She hadn’t seemed to like her brothers much, but I guess family is family. She flurried her way to Will and blew him into a column. He didn’t destroy it, but the crunching sound he made when he hit made me wince.

One of the _empousai_ screeched as Nico’s sword reduced her to dust. Khione, seeing that her tapestry was in danger, flurried back to it and cut one corner loose with a Celestial bronze knife.

I looked over at Will. Either he didn’t hit as hard as it sounded like he did, or his father’s blessing gave him some protection, because he was hauling himself to his feet. “I’m okay,” he shouted over the continuing noise of battle. “We have to cover Nico!” 

Mouse yelped. He and Jenny had broken apart, both of them looking a little ragged. Will pulled out a throwing knife and gave it a smooth, underhand throw. It hit Jenny, cutting a blazing path across her back, and she screamed. Her glamour dropped, revealing the lean, hungry, dangerous creature she really was. 

I figured they had Jenny taken care of between the two of them and ran for the tapestry. I hauled out my blasting rod as I did, aimed it at Khione, and yelled, “ _Fuego!_ ” infusing the spell with soulfire. It came out white-hot. Khione screeched and turned into a flurry barely in time. 

Not even soulfire made a mark on the tapestry. Nico was right; we needed something exceptional to destroy it. 

I was disappointed not to get the kill on Khione, but basically, I just needed to keep her busy. I spotted Lou Ellen engaging another of the _empousai_ as I tried to locate the snow goddess. 

That was when Zethes caught up with me. Mr. Mullet and his horrific abomination of an outfit aimed a sword at me. “You weel not take mah bride!” 

“Save the poor girl some misery, you French mistake.” I hit him with one of my kinetic energy collectors. It couldn’t kill him, but geez, the guy bugged me. 

Icy wind picked me up and threw me. It was far from the first time I’d been thrown across a room, and I tucked and rolled when I hit the ground and came up on my feet close to Piper. “Gotta hit me harder than that, doll.” 

“No, I don’t.” Khione appeared behind Piper, holding her Celestial bronze knife to the frozen girl’s throat. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Dresden. Are you really willing to sacrifice this girl’s life? Stand down, or she dies.” 

“I do the necessary, Khione,” I said. “And so do these guys. Bad on you for letting me distract you.” 

Khione realized her mistake a second too late. She whipped around just in time to see Nico plunge his sword into the tapestry. 

The mistfiend poured into the weaving, dissolving it thread by thread. Khione screamed. I took the opportunity to grab her wrist and disarm her before she could hurt Piper. In seconds, nothing was left of the new fate Khione had woven for herself. 

Nico glared at her, the mistfiend hanging in the air behind him. “I wonder what this thing could do to a god,” he said. 

“You bastard! That took me forever!” Khione choked out. “This isn’t over. This is never over!” 

She turned into a flurry again, snagged the Spindle, and was gone. 

“Seestair! Wait for me!” Zethes cried, and flew off after her. 

Near the back of the room, Jenny, badly injured, had been cornered by Mouse and Will. She snarled, ripped open a Way, and dove into it. 

A little tinkle of falling ice was the only sound for a moment. 

Nico turned to the mistfiend and waved wearily. “Back to the shadows with you.” It collapsed in on itself and was gone. Good riddance. 

Will limped toward the front, slipping a little in the puddles his sunny aura was creating. “Damn it, she got the Spindle.” 

“No, she didn’t,” said Lou Ellen. She produced the Spindle from her ever-present bag. The aura of power around it confirmed it was the real thing. “I grabbed this early on. She got the Mist copy I left for her. She’s gonna be real disappointed when she gets wherever she’s going.” 

Will laughed, wheezing a little. “Lou, as gay as I am, I swear I am going to give you the biggest, sloppiest kiss.” 

Lou Ellen wrinkled her nose. “Gross.” 

Over by the empty loom, Nico sat down heavily. Will looked at him with concern, but his eyes tracked back to Piper. 

I took a look at her. She really was a beautiful girl, with great bone structure. Her clothes were simple and casual, and she had no visible makeup on. No artifice, just a naturally appealing face and figure. She looked a little startled, as well she might. 

“ _‘Sunlight thaws a frozen heart,’_ ” said Nico. “I’ll be all right, Will. Help her.” 

I stood aside as Will approached Piper. He took her face in his hands, closed his eyes, and began to sing. I could feel the warmth radiating from him. 

I went over to Nico and crouched down by him. “How are you feeling?” 

“Shaky,” he said. “That thing . . . it kept offering me power. But I – I wouldn’t ever have been able to touch anyone again.” He looked over at Will. 

“Definitely not worth any amount of power,” I said. 

Nico nodded. “Thank you, by the way. I know it wasn’t fair of me to ask you what I did, but . . .” 

“You needed assurance someone would stop you if you needed them to. Will was the only other one with long-range weapons, and he couldn’t do it.” 

“I could never have asked him to,” Nico said very softly. 

I looked down at my hands, felt the Winter Knight mantle lying heavy on me. “We’re the ones who have to make the tough calls, Nico. If we’re lucky, we have people to help us out when the burden gets too great.” 

He looked at me, a little half-smile easing onto his face. “I guess we do.” 

Will gave an exclamation, and I looked up in time to see Piper collapse into his arms. I stood and pulled Nico to his feet, and we all clustered around the two. Mouse joined us, smelling like wet dog. 

“Nectar?” Lou Ellen offered, pulling a little stoppered bottle from her bag. 

Will took it. “Just a little. I don’t want to shock her system.” He pulled out the stopper and poured a small trickle into her mouth. “Nico, take some unicorn draught. Don’t argue.” 

Nico looked like he’d been set to do just that, but he acquiesced and accepted the bottle Lou Ellen handed him. “Fine, but you’re taking some ambrosia. Don’t think I didn’t see you limping.” 

Lou Ellen handed Will a packet of something that looked like lemon bars. He broke off a piece and ate it, then breathed steam into the frozen room. 

Something else crashed down, and I remembered the bit about the house of ice falling apart. “Uh, guys? I’m pretty sure we should be leaving about now,” I suggested. 

“Yeah, good idea,” Lou Ellen agreed. 

I took off my coat and wrapped Piper, who was soaking wet and still unconscious, in it, then picked her up. The way out of the ballroom was starting to look pretty dangerous. 

Fortunately, Will had a better idea than backtracking. He went to the brightest wall and placed his hands on it. “Hey, Dad, help me out here,” he said, and poured the last of Apollo’s blessing into it. In seconds, there was a hole to the outside big enough for us all to walk through. 

I took us back to the entrance to the Way we’d used on our way in. Will, who was also soaking wet, was not at all happy about walking a half-mile in subzero temperatures. The rest of us did our best to shield him from the worst of the wind. Even so, he was shivering convulsively by the time we emerged on the Navy Pier. It was late afternoon in Chicago, but still warm. Will breathed a sigh of relief. 

“We need to get Piper somewhere we can warm her up safely,” he said. “We demigods are tough, but she’s badly hypothermic.” 

I looked at the long shadows. It would be dinnertime soon. 

“You know what, guys? I think I know the perfect place.” 


	7. Dinner with the Carpenters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charity takes charge, stories are told, and the question of who has the most embarrassing parents is settled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this was a difficult chapter to write! I redid the dinner conversation about six times before I was happy with the way it settled. Thanks to everyone who read, and I hope you enjoy this final chapter. This was my first time writing Harry's narrative voice, and it was fun, but a little scary. Kinda like Harry himself.

The streetlights in front of the Carpenters’ house were just starting to come on when we pulled up. Mouse was waiting for us by the front gate, panting smugly. With Piper unconscious in the back across Nico’s and Lou Ellen’s laps, there was no room for the big galoot. Mouse had apparently dried himself out while running. Will, meanwhile, had left a wet blotch on the passenger-side seat, figuring he was too cold himself to provide much body heat for Piper.

We offloaded carefully, with Lou Ellen helping me to get Piper out without banging her head. She was starting to shiver, which Will declared to be a good sign. “Her body’s trying to warm itself up now,” he explained.

Nico had the Spindle. He glanced at the house and then at the shadow cast by a big oak tree. “I’m going to take this back to my father,” he said. “I’ll send a message to camp, let them know the quest has been completed and we have Piper.”

“You don’t have to do that now,” Will said quickly.

“Sooner is better. An artifact this powerful will attract monsters in record time, and I think we’ve made Dresden’s life interesting enough already.” Nico looked at his boyfriend, and his voice softened. “I’m all right, Will. I promise.”

Will nodded and busied himself with fetching his pack from the car. Nico caught his hand. “Hey. Feel that? I’m okay.”

“I’m not sure I am.” Will’s voice was a little watery. He pulled Nico close, and they held each other for a long moment, murmuring back and forth in Italian.

Nico pulled back first and kissed Will lightly. “I’ll be back soon, unless Dad gets chatty.” Will chuckled just a little at that, and Nico walked away and faded into the shadow of the oak.

Will took a deep breath and tore his eyes away from where Nico had disappeared. “Okay, let’s get Piper inside.”

He opened the gate, and Lou Ellen knocked on the door for me. Amanda, Michael and Charity’s tall, athletic third daughter, opened it. “Bill? What have you done now?”

Seriously, no respect.

She spotted Piper. “Oh! Is she hurt?”

“Hypothermic,” I said. “Can we get her inside?”

“Of course!” Amanda stepped aside and let us in. “Mom! Dad! It’s Harry! And some other people!”

There was a minor stampede on the second floor. In seconds, Michael, Charity, their youngest two Hope and Harry, and my little girl all appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Daddy!” Maggie flew down the stairs and hugged my legs. “Mouse!” She promptly forgot about me in favor of lavishing her dog with love.

Charity, upon seeing Piper, hurried down as well. “Who is she? What’s happened to her?”

“Her name’s Piper, and she got frozen by our baddie,” I told Charity.

Will took it up from there. I’d let them know the Carpenters were clued in earlier. “She’ll recover just fine if we can get her into some dry clothes and warm her up.” He stuck out his hand. “Will Solace.”

Charity shook it, and I saw Will’s eyes flicker slightly, probably cataloguing the various injuries she’d taken over the years, the latest being a bullet to the leg. “I’m Charity. Of course we’ll help her. You look like you got soaked, too.”

“Well, yeah, as a matter of fact.” Will shrugged as if to say, “What can you do?”

“Upstairs, now. Shoes off, first, and you can leave your weapons on the shoe cupboard,” Charity ordered. “Hank!” She addressed her youngest. “Get the space heater from the workshop. Michael, looks like we’ll need more of everything for dinner. Hope, help your dad. Amanda, you’re with me.”

I carried Piper up to Michael and Charity’s bedroom and laid her on the bed, awkward introductions flying around me as we went. “Amanda, get a pair of my pajamas,” said Charity as she delved into Michael’s bureau and produced a t-shirt and sweatpants. She handed them to Will. “Change into these in the hall bathroom. Third door on your left.”

“I can help with Piper. I’m a medic,” said Will.

Charity’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not seemly. We’ll take care of her. Males, out. Harry, wait outside the door. We’ll need you to carry her again once we’ve changed her.”

Will and I found ourselves shoved out of the bedroom. The door closed behind us in no uncertain terms. Will looked at me.

“She’s in charge?”

“You pick things up quickly, kid. Better do as she says.”

Will, being a smart kid, did as she said. A few minutes later, Amanda exited her parents’ room with Piper’s wet clothes in a laundry hamper. She stopped by me.

“That Will is really cute,” she said, _sotto voce_. “Is he-”

“Gay, and very much in love with his scary, scary boyfriend. Sorry, girl.”

Amanda pouted. “Every time!”

Will emerged from the bathroom wearing Michael’s clothes, and Amanda collected his wet clothes as well before heading downstairs, presumably to the laundry room.

“Harry,” Charity called from inside the bedroom.

I entered. Charity was wrapping a fluffy blanket around Piper’s shuddering form. The girl made a noise of distress in her throat. Charity stopped what she was doing, took one of Piper’s hands and stroked her face gently.

“It’s all right, sweetie, you’re safe,” Charity murmured. “ ‘The Angel of the Lord encampeth around them that fear Him.’ You’re safe here.” 

The mother-talk worked. Piper didn’t wake, but she sighed and relaxed visibly. I picked her up and carried her to the living room, where Little Harry (who was growing so fast you could practically hear it) had set up the space heater in front of the couch. I laid her down, and Charity piled a few more blankets on top of her. Will came over and did one of his touch-of-the-hands diagnoses.

“She’s still hypothermic, but she’s starting to warm up. Thank you, Mrs. Carpenter.”

Will’s warmth and concern for his friend seemed to have won over Charity. She smiled at him. “We like taking care of people here. Harry says you and your friends have had quite the adventure in Chicago. I’d love to hear about it over dinner.”

“Believe me, we appreciate it.” Will stood up. “Can I help?”

We had the good fortune to have dropped in on taco night. Lou Ellen had already been roped into chopping lettuce, and Will was dispatched to help carry things to the table. And thus, they were adopted.

“We’ll probably have one more, by the way,” I told Charity. “If a Goth-looking boy knocks on the door, that’s Nico. The son of Hades. He’s gone to the Underworld to return the MacGuffin to his dad.” A crucifix on the wall seemed to be staring at me. “Uh, did I mention Will and Nico are a couple, and Lou’s a witch?”

“They’re guests in my home, Harry,” said Charity, giving me a Look. “That’s all I need to know. We’ve had all types here, and thus far have failed to stone any of them.” She patted my cheek. “Help out. We need a couple more chairs from the storage room for your friends. Bring them up, would you?”

Yeah, I was adopted, too.

There were plenty of chairs. The Carpenters had seven kids, but only three were home. Molly, their oldest, was on Europa. Their oldest son, Daniel, was doing a tour of duty with the Army in Iraq. The next two, Matthew and Amelia, were volunteering aboard the _Africa Mercy_ for the summer in Madagascar. The Carpenters always had enough chairs on hand not just for their kids, but for any other waifs and strays who wandered through their doors. Like, for example, me.

We were just finishing setting up the table when the doorbell rang again. Harry Carpenter answered it. I heard Nico’s low voice.

“We’re expecting him, Little Harry,” I called.

“Stop calling me that!”

“Grow taller!”

“Harry, try to be a little more mature than your namesake,” Michael said warningly, though his eyes sparkled with laughter.

“Come on in,” I heard Harry say. “Uh, dude? Did you leave your shadow outside?”

Curious, I walked to the top of the stairs. Sure enough, Nico had left a Nico-shaped shadow on the doorstep. He looked at it curiously.

“Huh,” he said. “It’s never done that before.”

“This house has some heavy-duty supernatural protection,” I told him.

“I kind of guessed that. It’ll dissipate. Hopefully without killing the azaleas.” Harry took Nico’s coat and hung it in the entryway.

Will appeared beside me and was fascinated with Shadow Nico. “Wow. Hand.” He held out one hand to Nico, who took it as he climbed the stairs. “That’s amazing. It’s like the threshold here pushed all the darkness out of your system. I was expecting it to take days to get you back to baseline after the past week. What kind of supernatural protection did you say this house has, Harry?”

“Angels. Loads of them,” I said. “If you guys were supernatural baddies, you wouldn’t have even been able to step foot on the property without getting scorched.”

Will looked around at the house and then leaned in and asked, very quietly, “Who are these people, that they rate that kind of protection?”

“They might tell you, if you ask. Come on; Charity doesn’t like people to be tardy for dinner.”

Charity ushered us into the dining room. She stopped Nico before he could take a seat, though. “No weapons at the table.”

Bemused, Nico removed his sword and left it sitting on an ottoman. He glanced around the living room, taking in the family photos and Christian symbols, and he took a moment to look at Piper. When he entered the dining room, Michael stood to greet him.

Nico shook his hand. “Nico di Angelo. Thank you for your hospitality, sir, ma’am.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Michael. “Please, have a seat.”

Amanda was staring, wide-eyed, at Nico. With his scarred, muscular arms, black hair back in a messy ponytail, and skull t-shirt, he looked every inch like that deadliest of teen-girl Kryptonite, the dangerous, brooding bad boy. Amanda sneaked a hopeful look at me. I shook my head minutely and pointed surreptitiously at Will. She pouted again.

“She’s out of danger,” Nico told Will as he sat down beside him, hooking a thumb at Piper.

Will looked at him curiously. “You didn’t say anything.”

“Wouldn’t have done any good, but yeah, she was a little closer to dead than I’d have liked for a while. I knew you’d pull her through.” Nico looked at me. “Harry, my dad says thanks.”

“Speaking of saying thanks, time for prayer,” announced Michael. Everyone joined hands, and Michael said brief, but heartfelt, grace. The demigods, whatever their beliefs, bowed their heads respectfully as he did so.

I helped Maggie put together a taco, light on the meat, heavy on the cheese, before dishing up myself. She was attempting to negotiate the amount of dinner she had to eat before dessert. I caught Will grinning at us.

“What?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I watched you unleash the wrath of the gods on some very deserving . . . things over the past few days. It’s a little weird watching how downright cute you’re being with your daughter now.”

“No,” said Nico, from his other side. “No, it’s really not. We all have reasons why we do what we do.” He looked at Will briefly before looking down, blushing a little.

Michael nodded. “That’s certainly true.”

“What happened with your dad, Nico?” Lou Ellen asked.

“I gave him the Spindle. He’s going to lock it up extra hard this time. I also told him about Khione, and he said the Olympians are going to have a _discussion_ about her, so that’s literally in the hands of the gods. He said he’d arrange transportation back to camp for us, by the way. I managed to send a message to Kayla, told her we’d completed the quest and rescued Piper.”

Will washed down his first taco with some lemonade. “Bet Jason’ll be happy to hear that.”

Nico laughed shortly. “Yeah, according to Kayla, Chiron practically had to sit on him to keep him from flying off to her rescue. Kayla said there was discussion of tying him up and putting him in the Hypnos cabin to calm him down.”

“Okay, you have to start at the beginning of all this,” said Amanda. “I mean, you’re demigods? How does that happen?”

Will got a mischievous look. “Well, you see, when a god and a human love each other very much . . .”

Nico dope-smacked him. Charity snorted her lemonade and had to grab some extra napkins.

_“STOP!”_

The word froze all of us in our seats. For a moment, no one, even Maggie, moved. Harry Carpenter was stuck with a taco halfway in his mouth.

Will shook it off first. “Piper,” he said, standing and going to her.

“That was magic,” I noted.

Nico nodded. “Charmspeak.”

Charity wiped her hands and went to join Will, who was kneeling by Piper, speaking to her in soothing tones.

“Will?” Piper asked groggily. “Lacy, Chloe, Hyun . . .”

“Your sisters are safe. They’re at camp,” Will told her. I could respect a girl who woke up from being frozen solid and immediately asked about the safety of other people. “Khione and the Boreads kidnapped and froze you. She was behind all of this.”

“Her again?” Piper noticed Charity. “Uh, hi . . .”

“How are you feeling, honey?” Charity asked, brushing Piper’s hair off her face.

Piper shivered visibly. “Cold.”

“You’re still hypothermic,” said Will, “but you’re a lot better than you were. Charity, something hot to drink would help her warm up faster.”

Charity nodded. “Of course. Do you like cocoa, Piper?”

“That sounds good.” Piper looked around, eyes vague and confused. “Where am I?”

“That’s going to take some explanation, but it’s a safe place, with good people. Do you want to get up?” Will asked.

Piper nodded and rubbed at her eyes. “Yeah. Do I smell tacos?”

Young Harry was sent to fetch another chair, and Piper joined us at the table. She was pale and still shivering even though Amanda had loaned her the fluffiest bathrobe I’d ever seen – seriously, I don’t know how many Muppets had to die to make it – but there was something regal about her. I suddenly realized where I’d seen her before: Nico’s soul. She’d been one of the friends helping him put himself back together.

I definitely liked her.

“This house is nice. I like this house,” she murmured, looking around. “There’s so much love here.” She looked at Michael. “Did you build it?”

Michael smiled at her, and even though the two didn’t look a thing alike, there was something very similar about how they smiled. “I did. With a lot of love.”

Charity placed a cup of hot cocoa in front of Piper. She made her own mix, and I knew from experience it could melt all of Winter. “Here you go. Help yourself to anything on the table; we don’t stand on ceremony here.”

Piper took a drink from the mug and sighed. “That is so good. Are the beans vegetarian?”

They were, and Piper accepted Lou Ellen’s help in making herself a veggie taco, since Piper’s hands were still shaking badly. “Okay, now you guys have to tell me everything,” she said once she had dinner on her plate.

The story came out as we ate, to various gasps and exclamations. Piper became more animated as she warmed up.

Piper pointed at me. “Wizard? Seriously?” Will nodded. “Wizard. Wow. I don’t even know why I’m surprised.”

“My daddy does magic,” said Maggie, worming her way into my lap. I kissed the top of her head. I hadn’t gotten to see nearly enough of my girl over the past few days.

“I’m kinda bummed I won’t get to ask you more about your magic, Mr. Dresden,” said Lou Ellen. “It’s fascinating. But I’m totally stealing your idea of tattooing spells into leather.”

“Hey, you’re the one with the Mary Poppins handbag,” I told her. “I still haven’t figured out how you do that. And the pig bomb? Sweet!” I offered her a fist, which she obligingly bumped.

Piper wiped her hands on a napkin. “Nico, did Hades know how Khione get the Spindle in the first place?”

Nico shook his head. “He’s investigating. Winter has a lot of connections with death and the Underworld, and Khione can be extremely subtle when she wants to be. She managed to persuade Zeus to close Olympus while Gaea was awakening, after all.” He gestured at Lou Ellen. “Hecate is an Underworld figure as well, and we know Khione was working with the _empousai_. But honestly? As long as we don’t have to go chasing after it again, I don’t really care how she got it.”

“I have a feeling Boreas is going to be getting an earful about his daughter’s shenanigans,” said Will.

Amanda had left the table briefly, and when she came back, she was holding a magazine, which she opened up and placed in front of Piper. “I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen your face. This is you, right?”

“Oh, gods,” moaned Piper. She covered her face.

Will craned his head for a look. “Is that you? With your dad? On the red carpet at Cannes?”

It sure looked like it. Action hero Tristan McLean was posing in a suit that probably cost more than my car, hair artfully ruffled, and by his side, wearing an elegant gown and looking like an Amazon princess, was Piper.

“You’re Tristan McLean’s daughter!” Amanda gave a delighted laugh. “I can’t believe this. Stacey is going to die when she finds out I had you in my house.”

Piper came out from behind her hands. “Yes, my dad’s Tristan McLean. He usually keeps me as far away from Hollywood as he can, but this was the first Native American role he’s ever accepted, and he said he took it because of me because he wanted me to be proud of our heritage – which I always have been – and asked if I’d be his date at Cannes.”

“So she forced herself, _forced_ herself, to accompany him to the French Riviera,” sighed Will. “Piper, you are such a giver.”

“Shut your mouth, Solace. I got into a tangle with an _echidna_ while I was there, and I’m not talking about the cute little hedgehoggy things.” She drank the last of her cocoa. “Anyway, the movie’s great, and Dad’s getting Oscar buzz for his performance, I did not let him talk me into making a cameo, and most importantly, there will be no big, shirtless poster of my dad to scar my eyes.” She nudged Amanda. “If you think your parents are embarrassing, by the way? Try the goddess of love on one side and Hollywood on the other.”

“You’ve never been given The Talk by my mom,” said Amanda.

“Amanda!” Charity scolded.

“I’m scarred for life, Mom.”

“You want scarred for life?” Will asked. “Try getting The Talk from Apollo. I may have to dunk myself into the River Lethe to forget everything he said about his many, many lovers.”

“Thank the gods Hades doesn’t care about that kind of thing,” said Nico. “He’s embarrassing in other ways.” He and Will chorused, “French zombie chauffeur!”

“What?” Hope asked.

Nico chuckled his dark little chuckle. “My father has an . . . odd idea about how to connect with his kids. He wanted to help me out, so he gave me a driver. A French zombie named Jules-Albert.”

“Speaking of zombies, you all know what Harry needs to tell everyone about, right?” Amanda asked. 

“Polka-powered zombie T-rex!” shouted the entire Carpenter clan, including my daughter. The demigods stared at me.

I sighed. “Geez, you reanimate one dinosaur . . .”

“How about we hear about that over dessert?” Charity suggested, to general acclaim. “We’ve got rhubarb crisp – the rhubarb is straight from our garden, by the way – and vanilla ice cream.”

“Give Piper hers without ice cream. She’s had enough freezing for one day,” I said.

“More like for a lifetime.” Piper shook her head wearily. “If I ever see that Zethes again, I will personally cut off his mullet and make him eat it.”

Dessert was served, and we all retired to the living room. I told the story of my run-in with a group of nasty necromancers and the resultant romp with Sue. Piper told how she’d met her boyfriend, Jason, who could fly and call down lightning. I noticed Young Harry making moon eyes at her, as well he might. We all found out Nico had been born in the 1930s, and the twenty-first century had taken him by surprise.

“The Apollo cabin did our part by introducing him to the music of the twentieth century,” said Will. “I’m proud to say it ended in a huge ‘80s party with surprisingly few injuries.”

“Except the brawl over the best Van Halen frontman,” Piper said.

Charity snorted from where she and Michael were cuddled up on the loveseat. “Diamond Dave, of course!”

Michael looked at her. “I had no idea you were so passionate about ‘80s bands.”

“I like to think I can still surprise you after thirty years,” Charity said.

“Who’s your favorite New Kid on the Block?”

“I’ll save that for our next anniversary.”

Relationship goals, people.

Piper seemed fascinated with them. “How did you two meet?”

“Well, an evil warlock tried to sacrifice me to a dragon, and Michael slew the dragon,” said Charity.

The demigods all blinked at her. “You’re really serious,” Will blurted.

“I can see where that’d turn a girl’s head,” said Lou Ellen.

This necessitated some discussion of Michael’s former career as a Knight of the Cross, which the kids accepted with no problem. He and Charity told the story of how he’d slain Siriothrax and rescued the maiden.

“That’s amazing,” sighed Piper. “And now you have, what, seven kids?”

“Of our own, yes,” said Michael. “Eight, including Maggie.”

“Nine, including Harry,” Charity added. I stuck my tongue out at her to show her how mature and adult I am. Mouse whined. “We’d never forget you, Mouse. Ten!”

“I accepted my Calling when I wasn’t much older than you, I think, Will,” said Michael. “I can’t imagine having been sent on quests when I was younger, though. Is it common?”

“This is actually my first quest,” said Will. “Nico’s been at this pretty much since he entered the double digits. Demigods who’re especially powerful, or who are fated to be involved in the great prophecies, start attracting trouble earlier.”

“Except Piper,” said Nico.

“I kind of was the trouble.” Piper rolled her eyes. “My powers showed up when I was in my early teens. I didn’t exactly use them well. Don’t ask. It’s an Albania.”

“Albania?” asked Hope.

“Something we don’t talk about,” Will explained. “Named for a mysterious incident in Nico’s life that I haven’t yet persuaded him to tell me about.”

Nico’s mouth twisted. “And you won’t, not until I’m at least twenty-one, because you’ll have to get me unbelievably drunk first.”

I thought about the past few days. “And you keep attracting monsters for your whole lives?”

“Yeah.” Nico fiddled with the skull ring he wore. “Except in a couple of safe havens. We . . . don’t always live long. I’ve performed the funeral rites for more Greek demigods than I like to think of.”

“The really powerful ones always get it the worst,” said Will, looking at Nico.

“It seems power always comes at a price,” Michael noted. “Harry’s had a disproportionate amount of trouble in his life, and he’s one of the most powerful wizards of his generation.”

“See, but I tend to cause the trouble,” I said.

Michael chuckled. “Yes, mostly by not being able to keep out of it when innocent people are being hurt.”

“I believe that,” said Lou Ellen. “Not many who’d jump right into a nest of _empousai_ to help out some people he just met.”

“Who’d been holding him at swordpoint, no less,” added Nico.

“Speaking of which, may I see your sword?” Charity asked. “I’m kind of a weapons nerd.”

“Charity’s got her own forge,” I told the kids.

Nico fetched his sword, but he wouldn’t let Charity touch it. “It’s Stygian iron, forged in the Underworld and tempered in water from the River Styx. It’s not really good for mortals to touch.”

Lou Ellen pulled the group’s spare sword out of her bag. Hope’s eyes popped. “This is Celestial bronze. It won’t hurt you.”

Charity tested its weight and balance. “It’s beautiful.” She passed it to Michael, who agreed.

“What kinds of powers do you have?” asked Hope, always curious.

“It depends on your parents. There are a few demigods, like Nico’s sister Hazel and her boyfriend Frank, who have hereditary powers from their human parents,” Will explained. “We all inherit traits from whichever god is our parent. Apollo’s kids vary the most. We have archers, musicians, artists, prophets and healers in our cabin. I’m a healer. By the way, Amanda, you might want to watch your right ACL; you’ve got some swelling in there.” He looked at Michael with regret in his eyes. “Mr. Carpenter, I’m sorry, but my powers don’t work well on older injuries. I wish I could help.”

Michael smiled gently at him. “It’s all right, son. I’m content. Our Matthew is a pre-med major at Urbana-Champaign because of my injuries and recovery, and I know he’ll do great things with his life.”

“A lot of descendants of Apollo end up in med school. They don’t always even know about their heritage.” Will gave a wistful little smile. “Unfortunately, not a lot of Greek demigods live long enough to have kids. We hope to change that. I’d . . . really like to be a dad one day.”

I watched Nico’s face. There was sadness there, as if he were thinking about whether he’d live long enough to perhaps raise a child with Will. I remembered what Will had said about how more powerful demigods attract more monsters. I’d seen how powerful Nico was. It didn’t take a genius to see how that might affect his lifespan.

“Being a dad is great,” I said, cuddling Maggie. “Scary sometimes, but great.”

“I’m not scary,” Maggie protested. “Mouse is.”

Mouse looked anything but scary, sprawled out and dozing like a furry area rug.

Will looked at my daughter. “Thank you for loaning us Mouse, Maggie. He helped me beat a monster today.”

“Of course he did.” Maggie might have said more, but a huge yawn interrupted her.

“Hey, a car just pulled up,” said Amanda, going over to the window.

“Please tell me it’s not a hearse,” said Nico.

Amanda smiled impishly at him. “Sorry, can’t.”

Nico looked pained. “Ladies and gentlemen, my father. The driver will be Jules-Albert.”

Charity set down her coffee. “Will, Piper, your clothes should be dry by now. Amanda?”

Amanda fetched their clothes, and Will and Piper, who looked like she’d recovered completely, got dressed. Nico and Lou Ellen gathered their things while Charity mommed at them, insisting on loading them up with snacks for the road and a jar of her cocoa mix and quizzing them on if they had enough water and warm clothing for the drive back, and did they need anything else? Pillows, a blanket, maybe a few of her Kevlar-and-chainmail jackets?

“We’re fine,” Piper laughed, and hugged Charity. “Thank you so much. It’s been so nice, getting to know your family. Not that Aphrodite doesn’t try, but I always wanted a normal mom.”

Charity squeezed her. “I’m not sure I qualify as normal, but I’m definitely a mom. Anytime you come through Chicago, you’re welcome here.”

Goodbyes were said to the Carpenters, and Mouse and I walked the demigods out to the car, where a zombie awaited wearing an early-nineteenth-century motoring outfit awaited. It saluted.

“Hey, Jules-Albert. How’s it going?” I asked. He didn’t answer.

Will rubbed Mouse’s ears. “Thanks for not letting the scary green woman kill me today, Mouse.” Mouse licked his face.

“Mr. Dresden, it’s been a real pleasure,” said Lou Ellen as she shook my hand. 

“It certainly has,” I agreed.

Piper gave me a hug and kissed my cheek. “Thank you so much for helping my friends.”

“Glad to help.” I turned and shook Will’s hand. “Safe journey, Sunny Jim.”

“Please, don’t give Nico any more bad ideas about what to call me,” he said. “Thank you, Harry. This would’ve been impossible without your help.”

“You guys are pretty amazing,” I told him. “When I think about how much of a mess I was at your age, I’m kind of astonished any of you are even sane.”

“Trust me, we’re faking it.” Will flashed one last, sunny smile and got into the hearse, leaving only Nico outside.

The son of Hades looked troubled as he spoke to me, very quietly. “I’m . . . bothered. This wasn’t like Khione at all, to try to grab power so blatantly. She's always been the type to plot behind the scenes. I feel like something is driving this, and my father’s hinted at as much. Do you understand?”

I did, all too well, but I couldn’t say much. I made a mental note to have a word with Molly about Jenny Greenteeth. “You’re not wrong. Tell your father that anyone who comes in contact with Khione needs to be very, very careful. This is the second time someone’s tried to seize power from the Winter Queen in recent years. If it happens . . . the whole world is in trouble.”

Nico nodded. He stuck out his hand. “Thank you, Harry.”

I took it and considered him. “You don’t expect to live very long, do you, Nico?”

He shook his head. “No. But it’s all right.” He glanced at the car, where Will was waiting. “Right now, I’m happy. Happier than I ever expected to be. It’s enough.”

In my heart, I didn’t believe I had a very long lifeline, either. There was something to be said for savoring the now.

“Safe journey,” I told him. Nico nodded once more and got in the car, sliding in beside Will. The hearse started up, zombie chauffeur at the wheel, and pulled away, heading for home.

Back in the Carpenters’ house, Maggie was waiting. It was past her bedtime.

“Can I come home with you, Daddy?” she asked.

I smiled. “Of course. No more demigods taking up all my space.”

“Her jacket’s in the closet down there,” Charity called.

By the time I’d gotten Maggie into her jacket and shoes, Michael and Charity had joined us in the entryway.

“Thanks for keeping her these past two days. And for letting a crazy wizard and a bunch of demigods crash your place,” I said.

“Anytime.” Michael and I shook hands, and Charity hugged Maggie and me goodbye.

I took my daughter and my dog, and I went home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Charity's Scripture quotation is from Psalm 34:7. My parents used to sing it to me as a lullaby, and I thought it was fitting, considering the Heavenly security detail the Carpenter family has.
> 
> 2\. The _Africa Mercy_ is pretty extraordinary. Read about it here: https://www.mercyships.org/
> 
> 3\. If you haven't read the Dresden Files, go pick up _Storm Front_ by Jim Butcher now. I'm completely addicted to Harry. Sorry about all the spoilers I've just handed you, but I'm sure you'll enjoy the books anyway.
> 
> 4\. And if you're a DF fan who hasn't read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus books yet because they're "for kids," get on it. They're as good a way as any to pass the time before Jim gives us the next DF book, anyway.


End file.
